More Than A Feeling
by NellieBly413672
Summary: MIRACLE Jack O'Callahan and Rob McClanahan have been rivals since their days in college hockey. When the both make the 1980 Olympic team tensions flare.It gets even worse when Mac secretly gets together with Doc's intern and OC's best friend, Annie Conway
1. Gonna Fly Now

**AN: Hey everyone. I'm finally back and have my new story. It's a little different from Times Like These, a lot more drama and romance then before. Anyways, I hope you like it. Please review when your done reading. Oh, the name of the chapter is explained at the end lol.**

**Disclaimer: Own nothing, except the DVD :)**

**Chapter 1**

**June, 1979**

**BEEP, BEEP, BEEP**

"Good Morning Boston! It's eleven AM and this is Kasey Kasem counting down the hits..."

Jack O'Callahan, aka OC, turned over to the other direction, cursing himself for accidentally setting the alarm. The radio still boomed in the background and Jack had no choice but to turn it off. Slowly but surely he set it off and collapsed back in his old bed for a while longer. He laid in bed for another twenty or so minutes before he got up. The last time he slept in really late, his mother yelled at him for not being out looking for a job instead. Having just graduated from college, he lived a bit at home while looking for a job.

OC entered the kitchen hoping for the left over bacon his mom usually makes. Unfortunately for him, his younger sister grabbed the last few pieces and wasn't afraid to mock him about it. As soon as OC saw the empty plate he glared at her sitting on the counter and slowly devouring the last pieces.

"Haha," his sister laughed sticking out her tounge at him.

"How immature is that, Katherine?" he shot back, "No wonder mom wants you to stay close to home."

"Nah, I wanna stay close to home. I've been thinkin' of going to BC," Katherine joked as she took a bite of the bacon.

"If you went their I'd never talk to you again," OC laughed.

"Or even better, I could go to U of Minnesota," his little sister cracked up.

"Yeah and I'll beat you up," he replied in a somewhat serious tone, "It's bad enough with Conway going there..."

Just then their mother walked in from the breezeway with a bag of groceries in her arm.

"Kids, can you give me a hand? I've got a couple more bags in the car," she gestured her head towards the door.

Before she put the bag down on the table, Katherine whined, "Mom...Jack just said he was gonna beat me up!"

"Mom...Jack just said he was gonna beat me up," OC mimicked.

"Kids, quit fighting and help me with the groceries," their mom sighed.

The two siblings went out the back door and walked out to the driveway. Each took two bags and were about to go back in. Then Rizzo arrived.

"Hey man, whats going on?" OC greeted his best friend.

Rizzo held up an envelope, "Here. Read it"

OC tore it open and his eyes scanned the letter. Before he could say a word Rizzo held up his own envelope, "I got one too. Along with Silky and Jimmy."

Katherine quickly grabbed the letter from her older brother's hands, "What is it?"

She read it and jumped up in the air and gave him a quick hug, "Oh my God! Your gonna go to the Olympics!"

OC snatched it back, "It's just try-outs for the team. But Rizzo and me will obviously get on so..."

"I'm gonna tell mom!" Katherine exclaimed right before running inside.

"So when are they?" OC asked.

"Like the beginning of July," Rizzo answered.

"Are they here or in Minnesota? It says Brooks is coaching," OC pointed out in the letter.

"It's in Colorado Springs...that's in Colorado,"Rizzo joked.

"No really," OC replied sarcastically.

The two started to play wrestle for a moment when Katherine came out.

"Mom, wants to make you a congratulations dinner. What do ya want?" she shouted at the two boys wrestling.

"I'm going out with Conway tonight...tell her to make dinner earlier...at seven...and I want steak," OC tried as he was still fighting Rizzo.

"Jack, you suck! You know I hate steak!" Katherine whined.

"Tell her to make lots of it," Rizzo joked, "I'm staying for dinner."

"You suck!"Katherine shrugged, giving them the finger.

Katherine walked back inside. The guys stopped wrestling and went inside to watch tv.

"So what are you and Conway doing tonight?" Rizzo asked flipping through the channels.

"We're seeing Rocky II...ohhhh stop there," OC stopped him at a repeat Red Sox game from the night before.

"You didn't watch?" Rizzo asked, knowing he was a huge Red Sox fan.

"Nah...I went out with Maureen...how'd we do?"he asked, eyes glued to the screen.

"I went to the game and we lost," Rizzo shrugged.

"Damn Bambino..."OC rolled his eyes.

Rizzo started turning the channels again, "So what did you do with Maureen?"

"What do you think?" OC laughed.

Rizzo gave him a high five, "Nice"

"Yeah but I'm not gonna call her. She was really annoying," OC said uncaring.

"Yeah Silky went out with her and told me the same thing," Rizzo replied, "You'll think he'd make it on the team?"

"Probably," OC shrugged, "So will Jimmy. I just hope that cheap shot from Minnesota won't be at try outs."

Rizzo rolled his eyes. OC's been pissed at a hockey player named Rob McClanahan ever since the NCAA game a few years ago. And he's not even close to getting over it.

"C'mon OC," Rizzo tried, OC glared at him not getting the answer he wanted, "I don't think he'll be there. Last year he got drafted to the Sabres, and he said he'd start playing for them after finishing up college. And since he's done..."

"Good," OC sighed.

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After dinner with his family and Rizzo, OC left to hang out with his best friend Annie Conway, aka 'Conway'. It was supposed to be one of the last times they really got to hang out since she was leaving for Minnesota the following week.

OC pounded on the door, "Conway open up!"

She didn't answer. After a minute of waiting outside her apartment, he let himself in.

"Conway, you home?" he shouted once he got inside.

Then OC noticed a ton of empty and full boxes scattered everywhere across her living room and kitchen.

He heard a faint reply coming for another room, "In here."

"What?" he yelled back.

"In here!" she tried again.

"Where?" he hollered to her.

"MARCO!"

He followed the voice as he replied back, "POLLO!"

"MARCO!"

"POL..." before finishing he stumbled upon his red headed best friend, "...hey. Whats with the piles?"

Annie had been getting ready to leave for Minnesota so her place was a sty. She was currently trying to sort through her clothes.

"Well, the pile to the right is keep clothes, the pile in the middle are leave at home, and the one at the end is for goodwill," she explained.

"Conway...there are only two piles," OC pointed out.

"Yeah well I haven't found anything for goodwill...yet," she tried not to sound mean.

OC quietly laughed and gave her a look. Annie laughed a bit too, "Stop! I just don't want to give my clothes and sports memorabilia to anyone else. They're mine!"

"Selfish..."OC muttered under his breath.

"Shut up!" she giggled.

Then she noticed a hideous pink sweater that her aunt gave her a couple years ago for Christmas. She threw it to the side and started a third pile.

"Look, I'm a nice person!" she pointed to the pile.

"Whatever you say Scrooge," OC laughed, "And that doesn't even count. It's pink, you hate pink!"

"Well sometimes it's not the thought that counts," she told him as she began to look through her clothes.

"Who knew you liked clothes so much?" her best friend laughed while watching her.

"I don't. I just don't want to have to go shopping while I'm there," she shrugged, "Wait...why are you here? It's only eight. Your like a half an hour early!"

"Yeah...I sorta have to tell you something," OC told her.

"What?" she asked concerned that something was wrong.

"I got asked to try-out for the Olympic hockey team," he replied trying to sound cool.

Annie smiled and got up, she was that awkwardly tall kid growing up and stands about 5'7 today, which gave her complete eye contact with all her guy friends. She gave him a high five, "Congrats! You're gonna make it for sure. Anyone else I know get asked?"

"Yeah...Rizzo, Jimmy, and Silky," he answered.

"That's cool," Annie smiled.

"And if I make the team I stay in Minnesota at the University, cuz Herb Brooks is the coach."

"Oh my God! I'm going there!" Annie exclaimed like a five year old.

"I know!" he sounded excited that quickly changed to accusation, "Your only staying for four years right? Until your done with med school?"

"Shut up OC! You know I am! After I'm done I'll move back here, but I promised my gramps I'd go to school there," she explained for the umpteenth time.

Her grandfather paid her her college education, since her parents couldn't afford it. But they made a deal that if he paid for it then she would go to med school in Minnesota, where he lived. He hasn't been well lately and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's earlier that year.

"I know," he shrugged, "I don't see why you have to go there. It's not like he'll remember anyways..."

"Yeah but I will," she gave a half smile, "But whatever. Since your going to Minnesota, we can be like best friends forever now!"

"Yeah, i just have to go through try-outs but they should be a piece of cake,"OC sounded overly confident now.

Annie laughed, she knew how cocky he would get. "C'mon, I'll deal with this war zone later. Let's go watch the Italian Stallion."

She hummed the Rocky theme, "Gonna Fly Now", as she left the room and OC still stuck around.

Annie poked her head back in, "OC, you comin'?"

"Right behind ya, Conway"

**So what do you think?**


	2. Young Man Blues

**Meadow567- Thanks for the review! Hope you like the next chapter!**

**Justlikewedo- Thanks for reviewing. This chapter is Mac's intro. I hope you like it :)**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev- Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked their friendship, it was hard to write without any flirting or awkwardness like in my last story haha. Hope you enjoy!**

**Xcapitalbarbie90- Thanks for reviewing. This chapter is Mac's intro so I think you'll like it. And I love Boston! I got the inspiration of this story by listening to this song lol. Hope you like the next chapter.**

**AN: Well here is chapter two. I'm going away for February break and I won't be back until Saturday. So my next chapter will most likely be next Sunday. Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter and please review when your done. And the chapter title is a song from The Who.**

**Chapter 2**

**June, 1979**

"This is not gonna work, man..." Mark Jonson tried to talk his friend of making a stupid mistake.

"Trust me...it's gonna work," Rob McClanahan was now convinced.

"Why? Why are you doing this? Jamie dumped you, Mac..."Mark rolled his eyes.

"Because making this team is like the coolest thing to ever happen to me. She dumped me because I was leaving for Buffalo but now I've got this. Now we'll have to get back together," Mac said.

Mac's girlfriend of almost a year broke up with him a couple of days ago, saying that it was because he was leaving. And today he, along with many of his friends, received a letter asking him to try-out for the 1980 Olympic hockey team. Rob was sure he'd make it because Herb Brooks was the coach and has been coaching him throughout all of college hockey.

"You're making a mistake!" Mark exclaimed.

"Whatever," Mac shoved off, "I'm going to Jamie's and we'll get back together and I'll get laid. So I'll see you in a couple of hours."

Mac then left the apartment he shared with Mark and Bah from the hockey team and went to Jamie's place, which was about ten minutes away.

**Knock, Knock**

"Jamie, open up! It's me!" Mac stood by the doorway of her apartment.

The door opened and it wasn't Jamie. It was one of her good friends, Andrew. Mac didn't like him too much but he tried to be nice because she was such good friends with him.

"Hey man, whatcha doin' here?" he asked sorta nervously.

"I wanna talk to Jamie. She here? I saw her car in the parking lot," Mac forced his way past Andrew and into the apartment.

"ANDREW HURRY UP! I WANNA FUCK YOU AT LEAST TWICE BEFORE GOING TO WORK!" the two guys heard Jamie yell from the bedroom.

She then came out of the bedroom with a sheet around her body, "Robbie..."

Mac was full of so many emotions that he couldn't even think. He just wanted to leave. He walked to the door and turned to face his ex-girlfriend.

"I'm staying in town..."

He then turned to the door and sadly walked away.

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"My life sucks," Mac sighed unhappily as he took a sip of beer.

The guys all went to the bar that night to celebrate getting try-out invites, and try help Mac feel better. Mac sat a table along with Mark, Rammer, Verchota, and a couple others.

"Robbie, stop! Your never gonna get laid if your crying all the time," Marguerite, Phil's girlfriend, laughed.

"Seriously your acting like a lovestruck teenager, get over yourself," Rammer laughed.

"Yeah like Romeo in Romeo in that play by Bill Shakespeare," Verchota joined in.

Everyone gave him a funny look.

"What? I took Shakespeare in college," Verchota defended.

"Yeah...you probably failed,"Rammer muttered under his breath.

"No I'm serious, Romeo's girlfriend wouldn't put out and he was being all depressed and shit about it," Verchota laughed.

Mac just rolled his eyes and took a large gulp of his beer, "Let's just not talk about this."

"Alright," Mark tried to cheer up his friend, "So how many people do expect will be at the tryouts?"

"Probably not too much," Rammer tried.

"Yeah, they're only looking at the best of the best," Verchota gave a cocky grin.

"Then why were you invited?" Marguerite joked.

The guys all laughed and Verchota gave a fake laugh then stopped.

"You know I heard some people from Boston University might go," Verchota tried to have them stop laughing.

And it worked the table went silent. They had some bad blood with that team. A couple years ago they beat them in an NCAA playoff game and the Terriers haven't let go of that. Well some did, but a couple, like Jack O'Callahan certainly didn't.

Mark glared at Verchota for bringing up the subject, since Mac wasn't too fond of the team or it's players.

"Whatever," Mac shrugged a little tipsy, "Just don't talk to them. And if they start something up just hit them back."

"No don't! Herb would send you home if you got into a fight with them," Mark tried to warn them.

"Shut up, Mark! You're the only one that really needs to kiss ass cuz your dad and Coach Brooks hate each other and everyone knows that..." Mac laughed.

Mark just shook his head. Everyone looked at a wasted Mac. Mark got up, "Whatever, I'm outta here."

Mark left the bar, leaving the rest of the team to get him home in one piece.

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The next day a groggy Mac woke up. For a second he had no idea where he was and then rubbed his eyes. He was in the living room of his apartment, still in his clothes from the previous night. Then he heard the blender start. He covered his ears to not hear the loud obnoxious sound it made. He turned around and saw that it was Mark that turned it on.

Mark saw him looking over and turned it off, "Morning princess."

He took the top of the blender off and poured the substance he made into a cup. He walked over to Mac and gave it to him.

"Drink up. It saves lives," Mark shrugged.

Mac listened to him and drank the entire glass.

"What's in this?" Mac asked after he finished.

"Can't tell you," Mark answered.

His memory of last night started to come back. He remember discing Mark at the bar.

"Look I'm sorry man, for being a jerk. I was drunk..." he tried.

"Whatever," Mark tried, "Just get over her."

"I dated her for a year. I can't just get over her like," Mac then snapped.

"Well get over her before try-outs. I remember when you two would always fight and you played a shitty game," Mark advised.

Mac sighed, "I guess we weren't the best couple, huh?"

Mark nodded. Mac shrugged, "I'll get over her."

**Please review!**


	3. Midnight Rambler

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev- Thanks for the review. I wanted her to be bitchy but I gave her a nice name. I have to admit you got all the good bitchy names lol.**

**Meadow567- Thanks for reviewing. I actually did get the idea for that part from Love Actually. I love that movie to death and I knew that Mac and his girlfriend were gonna break up and I didn't know how to write it lol. **

**Justlikewedo**- **Thanks for the review. I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that we all want to give him a hug lol, and maybe a kiss too haha.**

**AN: So here's chapter 3. Sorry it took so long but I was on vacation two weeks ago and this past week was hellish cuz it was the end of the term. Anyways here is the chapter. Hope you enjoy! And the name comes from a Rolling Stones song from the album _Let It Bleed._**

**Chapter 3**

**July, 1979- Colorado Springs, Colorado**

"Hughes, Ross, Auge, Delich, Horsch, Strobel, Christoff, Morrow, Suter, Ramsey, Janaszak, Christian, Pavelich, Verchota, Baker, Harrington, Schneider, O'Callahan, McClanahan, Silk, Johnson, Craig, Cox, Eruzione. And that's the roster for now. The rest of you thanks for coming out."

The guys all congratulated their friends back shaking hands or giving a pat on the back. Then Coach Brooks came out and gave them a talk about how they had to give it their best on the ice all the time. Jack didn't listen that much since he was too excited bout getting a spot on the team.

After the talk, the assistant coach, Craig Patrick, gave the guys a little 'homework', which actually turned out to be a 300 question test. The guys all shrugged it off and planned to do it later at the local bar they saw on their way to the rink. As they the four BU guys were about to leave, they ran into an old friend Ralph Cox. They met him a couple years back at an All-Star game.

"I can't believe practically everybody their was from Minnesota,"Silk complained as the five drove back to the hotel.

"What do you expect? Brooks is coaching, remember?" Jimmy told him.

"I think I was the only one from UNH that was there," Cox added.

Meanwhile, OC was in the front seat of the car and Rizzo was driving. They had their own conversation about the tryouts.

"I can't believe that cheap shot came," OC sighed.

"C'mon OC, just try your best to let it go," Rizzo tried knowing it was no use.

Before OC could reply, the three guys in the back joined in their conversation, asking their opinion bout something.

"Hey, do you think Brooks will cut us cuz he likes the Minnesotans better?" Silk asked.

"No," Rizzo answered, "Why would he ask us to tryout if he just wanted guys from the University?"

"That's what I said!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"What were you two talking bout anyways?" Cox asked.

"Nothing,"OC replied, "Nothing at all."

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Meanwhile Mac, Mark, and a couple of the guys who got on all went out to McDonalds for lunch. They were starving and also having a mini celebration for making it on the team.

"These tests are so retarded," Phil said as he took a big bite of his burger and looked down at the test.

"Yeah, I just want to get it over with," Jannie said already filling in some answers.

"Can you fill in some of mine too?" Phil joked.

The table all laughed and Jannie just rolled his eyes and got back to his test.

"Whatever, we can just do them tonight at that bar down the street from the hotel," Mark said.

"Yeah then I'll be so drunk, I wouldn't even remember doing it," Phil laughed.

"Maybe we can get him to answer the questions wrong," Bah said quietly to Buzz and Mac.

"So Mac I'm surprised you didn't get into a fight with that Jack O'Callahan guy," Ramsey spoke up.

"Me too. In the locker room I was talking to one of the BU guys...Eruzione," Mac remembered meeting him earlier that day.

"Yeah I know him from the National team a few years back. He's pretty cool," Buzz told the group.

"Maybe it won't be so bad," Mark smiled.

"We're gonna make it after all..."Phil jokingly sang.

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**Later that night**

Jack angrily slammed the hotel room door. He just got back from hanging out with the guys at the bar and he was pissed. Things were going fine until Rob McClanahan showed up, and waved to Rizzo. And worse was that nobody was pissed about the '76 playoffs. He still hates McClanahan for stealing the ring from him and everyone laughed at him cuz of it.

It was about 11:30 and he had nothing else to do. The only thing on was the news and a Brady Bunch marathon that he didn't want to watch at all. He decided to call Conway, cuz he forgot to earlier and he wanted to tell her that he made it. He hadn't seen her since she left for Minnesota two weeks before but they still talked on the phone a lot.

He dialed her number and after the third ring she picked up the phone.

"Hello," he heard her groggily answer.

"Hey Conway. What's up?" he asked.

"I was asleep dilhole. Your an hour behind me in Colorado," she complained.

"Sorry bout that. But I got on the team!" he exclaimed, hoping she wouldn't still be pissed for waking her up.

"I know," she yawned.

"How?" he was surprised, he only told his parents and his sister.

"Everybody knows, Jack!" she was furious, she only called him Jack when she was mad, "I was the last to know. VON LIBERMAN FOUND OUT BEFORE I DID!"

"I'm really really sorry," he tried to apologize to his best friend, "I was really busy today and only talked to my dad for like five minutes."

"Whatever. But the next time my best friend makes the Olympic team I'd like to hear it from him, not Betty Peterson."

"You talked to Betty Peterson?!?"

"Yeah she called and wanted to throw you a party. Little bitch..."

Jack wanted to get off the subject, "So hows the job search going?"

"I finally got a job at a local bar. The hours are alright and it's only at night so I can go to day classes," she told him.

"A bar? Do you even know how to make drinks?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm just gonna be a waitress instead. Cuz it was either this or Hooters," she laughed.

"How long do you have to work before you can get your 'stang?" he asked.

"A while," she groaned, "Cuz a waitress doesn't make much. But I can do it."

"Do you want me to talk to the team physician bout getting a job for you. Your already sorta qualified and it's extra money," he offered.

"Maybe. But I might be busy. Thanks though," she replied.

"Welcome"

"So hows the team? Did Rizzo and Jimmy and Silky get on too?" Conway asked.

"Yeah. And Ralph Cox from UNH. You met him a couple years ago at the bar after the All Star game," he tried to trigger her memory.

"Oh yeah. He was cool."

"And that panzey McClanahan got on too..." OC shrugged.

"That sucks. Just forget about him. Is it definite that he'll stay on. Cuz I heard that a couple more guys are going home. He could get cut..."

"Doubt it. He's like Brooks' golden boy. But yeah there are like six players getting cut. Not me of course," he laughed.

"Naturally," she joked back, "So when you coming up here? You need to help me clean out my grandparent's old house..."

She had been living there for the two weeks she was in Minnesota and planned to live there until school began. But the house was a rental and she had to move her grandparents stuff out of it by the new year, so a new family could move in.

"I'm leaving on Wednesday for Boston and I'll be out there by Saturday," he explained.

"Good. I can't wait to see you. There's not much here in Minnesota and I'm pretty bored..."

"Yeah maybe we can tip some cows or something"

Annie looked at th time and it was now 1 in the morning. She was pretty tired and needed to get some sleep.

"Call me back later cuz I gotta go to sleep."

"Night."

"Night."

**So that was chapter 3. Did you like it? Please Review!**


	4. Let It Bleed

**Lauren- Thanks for the review. I'm glad you like Conway and you'll see a lot more of her in this chapter.**

**Justlikewedo- Well, Mac is gonna get some attention in this chapter, but not in a good way lol. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Meadow567- I'm glad you liked it lol. I hope you like this one too! Thanks for the review.**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev- Thanks for reviewing. Happy you liked it :) You'll see more of Conway and OC talk this chapter. And it's ok if you took a lot of the bitchy names lol. I liked the ones I picked out.**

**AN: Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. And the name, if you couldn't already guess comes from a song. This is a Rolling Stones song, which is on the album by the same name. Anyways, I hope you like it :)**

**Chapter 4**

**Late July, 1979**

After the try-outs in Colorado, the guys had two weeks to go home and get ready to move out to Minnesota and get ready for the daily practices. A lot of the Minnesotan guys had their own places, but the Boston guys and Ralph Cox had to move into the dorms at the University.

The five all went out to PJ Kellehers, the bar where Annie works, the night before their first practice for one last hoorah before beginning what would probably be the hardest hockey they've ever played.

"Look at him over there," OC snickered looking at Robbie, "I can't wait to wipe the smile off that face."

Rizzo rolled his eyes at his best friends last statement as the rest of the table took a quick glance at the other end of the bar, where the Minnesotans sat. Before anybody could say anything else, Annie came and sat at the last remaining seat in the table.

"Hey," she greeted them, "It's a busy night, huh?"

"Yeah," OC replied, giving one last glare to Robbie before turning to talk to Conway.

"Busy night means lots of tips," Rizzo tried to be optimistic.

"Yeah thats what I thought. I've only gotten like five bucks so far! And I've been working for two hours already!" Conway complained.

"Well thank God you have us to keep you sane," Silk joked.

"Yeah," Conway laughed a bit, "Well I'm on my fifteen minute break and then I only have to work for another forty-five minutes. I got off at ten," she informed the group.

"We'd ask you to hang out afterwards but we have to wake up early tomorrow cuz of first practice," Jimmy told her.

"I understand...OC what was that death glare I saw you give earlier?"

"Huh?"

"When I came to sit down you were definitely mad at something. What gives?"

"Nothing..."

She then looked at the same direction she remembered him looking at a few minutes before. She saw all the Minnesota guys laughing and having a good time at the other end of the bar.

"Oh really... I love this Romeo and Juliet tension going on here. It's so much like the play, well except without all that love shit. But we're like the Montagues and they're like the Capulets," she laughed.

"That book was so stupid, Conway," OC tried.

"Your stupid. That book ruled," she shot back defensively.

Before the two could get into one of their infamous bickering matches Rizzo changed the subject.

"So hows your grandfather?" he asked.

"He's good. I'm seeing him tomorrow. Can you guys give me a ride back to my house after practice?" she asked.

"Yeah but it won't be done until like four," OC warned her.

"That's fine. I'm going to my gramps at two thirty so I'll be done by then and the rink is like two blocks from his nursing home," she replied.

"Ok," he answered her.

"Good. I'll meet you in the lobby," she smiled, happy about getting a ride.

She then eyed the clock and groaned.

"I have to get back to work," she sounded sort of tired.

"Have fun," Cox laughed.

"Shut up! Can you give me a ride after my shift?" Conway asked.

"Whatever...wait, what am I now? Your personal chauffeur's?" OC joked.

Conway hit him in the arm with her notepad.

"I'll see you girls later"

"Bye"

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The next day, Conway kept to her word and got to the rink at four o'clock. She waited in the lobby but saw no players coming out of the locker room. Conway looked around the lobby for a vending machine and spotted one at the back corner. She walked over there but stopped mid walk.

Conway was looking at someone sitting in the medical room, his face bloody and had a couple of bruises. He was alone in the room, probably waiting for stitches or something. She looked at him for a split second and then he turned his face to the door and saw her. Conway then walked quickly away to the vending machine, embarrassed. While walking back to the couch she looked in the room again and no one had showed up. She took a deep breath and decided to go in and try to help.

"Hi"

"Who are you?"

"I'm sorry, I was just waiting for my friend to give me a ride and I saw you here... Do you need help or something?" she asked the brown haired stranger.

"I'd rather wait for a doctor, no offense," the hockey player's nice way of saying no.

"Well that's good, cuz I'm a doctor," Annie replied sorta awkwardly.

The hockey player gave her a questioning look, "Aren't you a little to young to be a doctor?"

"Ok, so I'm not a doctor...but I do go to med school. And what do you need stitches? I'm not stupid I can give stitches," she offered again.

The guy took a deep breath and looked at the clock on the wall. It read 4:10. He just wanted to leave after his bad practice.

"Ok," he answered reluctantly.

"Ok," she was surprised by his answer, "Ummmm do you know where the needle and thread is?"

"Yeah," he pointed to the drawers, "They're in the second row to the right."

"Thanks," she gave a half smile and went to get the supplies.

Annie then started stitching up his face. He shifted for a moment.

"Owwww," he complained.

"Sorry"

"I thought you said you did this before"

"Well I have. This is my first time on a..on a person...but it's best not to move," she tried to change the subject and break the tension, "So what happened to your face?"

"Jack O'Callahan happened..."

She was mid stitch when he said this and put the stitch in with extra force. It must have been Rob McClanahan.

"Owwww"

"Sorry bout that," she said back, not so nicely, "So how did it start?"

"That asshole just charged at me for no reason," he began.

"Are you sure _he_ was the one that started it?" she asked as she kept in stitching, now harder than ever.

"Yeah. I mean I think he's always hated me and I don't know why," he told her.

"I'm pretty sure you do," she said droningly.

"Cuz Minnesota and Boston never got along?" he asked in a bit of pain from the stitching.

"It's because of '76"

Before Robbie could reply to her last comment, Doc walked in to the room.

"Oh, sorry. No one was here so I just thought...I should go," she said nervously as she stopped and walked towards the door.

Before leaving she turned and coldly said to McClanahan, "Oh by the way, I'm Annie Conway. And that _asshole_, Jack O'Callahan, happens to be my best friend."

She angrily left the medical room and saw OC and Rizzo about to leave.

"Hey guys! Wait up!" she called out to them.

They turned around and saw her running towards them. She was surprised to see that OC had no cuts, bruises, or any indication on his face that he had just been in a fight.

"So you clobbered that McClanahan guy?" she asked with a smile.

"How did you..."Annie then cut her best friend off.

"You don't wanna know," she warned, "But I saw his face. Nice job."

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That night the guys didn't come to see Conway at work. She was working the ten to one shift and they were pretty tired after their first practice with Herb. She saw a lot of the guys from Minnesota at the bar, probably because they were used to Herb's practices a lot more than the Boston guys.

She didn't even look at them as she served a table. Then Karen, one of Annie's co-workers, came up to her with a pleading look on her face.

"Hey, can you take that table over there," she nodded towards the table of the Minnesotan guys, "I'm desperate."

Before Conway could refuse, Karen walked away. She looked around the bar really quick to see if any of the other waitresses were free, but they were all busy. Annie took a deep breath swallowed her pride and went over to their table, hoping they couldn't tell she was from Boston.

"Hey. What can I get you guys?" she asked the big group with her pen and trusty notepad at hand.

"How bout a different waitress..." she heard a voice from the back of the table say.

She looked to see who it was. Rob McClanahan. She gave him a mean look, "How bout you shut the fuck up."

"You two know each other?" Mark asked Robbie.

"No," the two said in unison.

"She's that asshole's best friend," Mac told the group.

"Your from Boston?" one of the guys, Verchota, asked her.

"Yeah. What's it to you?" she asked with her Boston accent, that only came out when she gave attitude.

"Yeah, she goes to med school...if she didn't make that up," Mac rolled his eyes.

"Actually I do," she replied coldly.

"Why don't you go to med school at BU? Too stupid to get in?" Rob shot back.

"No. And trust me, I didn't _want_ to come here to cow country," she fired back.

The guys just sat in silence as the two were verbally fighting each other. Mark just wanted to keep it civil so he decided to end the fight.

"Guys stop!" he shouted at the two of them.

"We'll all have Budweisers," Buzz ordered for the table, so they could avoid another fight.

"Ten Budweisers it is," she said to the group as she wrote it down in her notepad.

She went to the bar to get their beer. Annie seriously thought about spitting in McClanahan's drink but in the last minute decided not to since her boss was standing only a few feet away. She delivered their drinks and didn't speak to any of them for the rest of the night.

**Please review :)**


	5. Make 'Em an Offer They Can't Refuse

**Jenn: Thanks for the review and there will be some tension for a while, but they'll come around ;)**

**justlikewedo: Thanks for the review! And I'm glad you like the tension cuz it will be around for the next few chapters, but then it will be a different kind of tension if ya know what I mean lol**

**meadow567: Thanks for the review. I'm sorry you don't like them together but I hope you'll like them later, when they start to like each other and stuff. I promise this will be better and really romantic :) Anyways I hope you like the new chapter.**

**AN: Thanks to all who reviewed and I hope you like the new chapter too. Please review after your done reading. And the title comes from a quote from The Godfather, I wanted to mix it up a bit lol, not just song titles. But if it's cut off it's called, Make 'Em an Offer They Can't Refuse**

**Chapter 5**

**Early August, 1979- 7 months to the Olympics**

**Knock Knock Knock**

"Come in"

Annie opened the door nervously and let herself in. She didn't tell OC or anyone that she had a meeting with Coach Brooks because she had no idea why, so she met with him after practice.

"You wanted to see me Coach"

"Have a seat Ms. Conway," Herb nodded towards the empty chair in front of his desk.

Annie sat down and awkwardly said, "It's Annie...but everyone calls me Conway."

"Ok Conway look..."Annie then cut him off.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to know how you knew of me?"

"Well I've heard some of the guys talk about you in the locker room, especially OC. And I also heard that you helped Mac after he got his face messed up," he explained and then continued,"Which brings me to this question. I wanted to know if you were interested in working for the team?"

Annie was shocked, 'Why me?', she asked herself.

"Wh...what?" she gave a confused expression.

"Every year Doc has an intern that works with him. I know this year is a lot more traveling and busy than most, but you'll learn a lot..."Herb tried.

Something was still not getting through to Annie, "What?"

"Would you like to work for the Men's Olympic Hockey team?" Herb asked as simply as he could.

Annie sat for a moment not knowing what to say. On one hand she could get a hands on learning experience and hang out with her friends. But on the other hand this year was hectic enough with her job at the bar and tri-weekly visits to see her grandfather, and school hasn't even started yet.

"I'm sorry. I...I can't do it," Annie sounded a little disappointed, "I'm really busy this year. And besides why would you want a first year medical student? You can get someone better."

"It's not all about that,"Herb replied, "You know those guys from Boston. Maybe you could help bring the team together."

Annie was beginning to like the idea of working on the team a little more, and for that she was mentally kicking herself.

"Look Coach, I really wanna do this but I've got so much on my plate now. I have another job...at a bar. I wouldn't be able to go to most of the games, and I can't quit because this is the job I'm probably going to have for my four years here," Annie told him.

"That's too bad. The team really needs you..."Herb said trying to guilt her a bit and then he tried to up the deal, "You don't need to travel with us. You'd only need to go to home games, but you'll have to go to Lake Placid, and you probably are going to go anyways if OC makes the team."

Annie knew this was a great offer, a chance of a lifetime, but her head told her no. She couldn't work all that time without any pay.

"I'm sorry coach," Annie got up, "It's just not going to work."

Annie walked towards the door and was about to leave.

"It's a thousand bucks...the job. That's how much you'd get paid," Herb said.

Annie stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned to face Herb, "So when do you want me to start?"

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"Are you serious?" OC laughed.

OC was really excited about what Conway just told him. Today she was offered a chance to work with the team's physician and she said yes. They didn't have a lot of time left together since she was staying in Minnesota and he had no idea what he was going to do after this, so he wanted to make everything count.

"Yeah," she smiled to him and the rest of the Boston guys.

She told them all at the bar during her fifteen minute break. She would have told them earlier but when she was done talking to Herb they were already gone so she walked home.

"When do you start?" Rizzo asked.

"Monday," Conway replied, "I mean it's not like a full time thing and I won't be going to a lot of your games, but I'll still see you guys."

"Wait, how come when I told you about it you said no but when Herb asks you accepted?" OC joked.

"Money," Conway laughed, "I'm getting paid like a grand! Now I'm gonna be so much closer to my car!"

It was true. The main reason she took the job at the bar was to get pocket money. But the first thing she wanted to get was a car, more superciliously an old vintage Mustang,because she hated walking home especially in the winter.

"Money! Are you kidding me? If you weren't getting paid would you still do it?" OC asked.

"No way!" Conway exclaimed, "OC, we're like grown ups now. This won't be all fun and games like high school and college."

Then she looked up and saw Silky, Jimmy, and Cox trying to burb the alphabet like she did when she was a child. OC and Rizzo cracked up and Annie just gave them a goofy look.

"Ok, well I've got to get back to work," she said and quickly left in embarrassment when they all started to make fart noises with their armpits.

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A little after ten some of the Minnesota guys came in. It wasn't as many as usual but still a good number. Annie, who was working a double shift that night, saw them come in. As they were looking for a seat she prayed that they wouldn't sit in her section, but unfortunately for her, they did. Thank God, OC wasn't here to see this.

Annie walked over to her new customers and see what they wanted to drink. She took out her notepad and pen ready to take their order.

"Hey. Do you know what you want?" Annie asked the group.

"You again," she could her McClanahan complain from the back.

"Yes. Me again," she gave a fake smile, "If you don't want me to serve you then don't sit in my section."

"It's not like we want to. Your section has the biggest tables," Mac replied.

"Ok, whatever," Annie sighed, "Just tell me what you guys want."

"We'll have Budweisers again," a blonde guy, who Annie thinks is named Mark, ordered quickly in order to avoid another fight.

"What your not up for a fight?" Mac asked, feeling a little disappointed.

"No. I'm just busy and I don't want things to be worse on Monday than it already is," Annie replied.

The guys gave her confused and questioning looks.

"I'm going to be working with your team physician. I'm the new intern," she informed the guys before walking away.

Some of them looked at her as she walked over to the bar to get their drinks. She came back about two minutes later with their order and the guys didn't talk to her. They didn't know what to say, all they thought was that this was going to be a long seven months.

**What did you think?**


	6. Don't You Forget About Me

**Meadow567: Thanks for the review and sorry about the misunderstanding. And trust me my story is gonna be different then most of them. It's gonna have a lot of drama between them and stuff.**

**Justlikewedo: Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you liked my chapter. This chapter will have a lot of team tension, so I hope you like it :)**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the reviews. And they won't like each other for another couple of chapters but they'll warm up to each other soon ;)**

**AN: Here's the next chapter. Sorry it couldn't be up on Sunday like my other chapters but I was very busy this weekend and also because my Internet was out :/ But here is my chapter, and don't worry my next chapter will be on Sunday like normal. And I know the name comes from a true 80s song but it just seemed so right for this chapter. Anyways, I hope you like it :)**

**Chapter 6**

On Monday practice ended at around 3:30, giving the players sometime to clean up before the team meeting at four. The guys still didn't get along that well and the two different groups barely spoke in the locker room, even having different sides.

Annie came around 3:50, once the team was all showered and dressed. Robbie, Mark, and Bill Baker were all talking when they saw her come in. She strictly stayed on the Boston guys side only, helping Silk stretch a sore muscle as she laughed with her friends, not even giving a glance to the other guys on the team.

After five minutes of no talking all the Minnesotans were aware that she was completely discing them. Some of them had sore muscles and wanted her help too, but she never asked if they needed help and they didn't want to talk to her when she was with OC and the rest of them.

Occasionally Robbie would look over at her and see if she was ever going to help them out.

"Thank God none of you guys are hurt or anything," he heard Annie laugh to her friends, "You all make my job so easy."

Robbie, annoyed, just rolled his eyes at the comment and finished getting dressed. He and a couple of the other Minnesota guys walked past the BU players and Annie and went on their downstairs to the basement, where the meeting was being held.

"Well that was fun," Verchota joked as the guys all entered the stairwell.

"That was so stupid. Why did coach even hire her? She didn't even do anything," Robbie complained.

"No, she just helped her friends," Mark said.

"She didn't even look at us!" Bill chimed in.

They got down the stairs and reached the room where the meeting was supposed to be held. They sat down waiting for the coach and the rest of the team to come in.

"Sorry your girlfriend is such a bitch, Mac," Bah joked.

"Girlfriend?" Rob laughed, "I'd rather drop dead then kiss that bitch..."

"Too bad she doesn't wear any make up or put her hair down..."Bah began before Buzz cut him off mid sentence , "Or wear anything that's not too big on her..."

"Yeah, then she's be sorta hot," Pav laughed, "But she'd have to be mute too."

"Are you done, gentlemen?"

The guys turned around and saw Herb standing by the doorway. He then entered the room.

"The way you guys gossip, you should be in a salon not a hockey rink," Herb laughed at his own bad joke.

In fear of being cut, the rest of the guys unemotionally laughed. Then the rest of the team came in and the meeting began.

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That night the guys went to their usual spot, PJ Kellehers, for a couple of drinks. When they got in OC, Silk and Rizzo were already there, in their section and to be exact took up a couple of seats at the table the guys normally sat.

"What the hell?" Ramsey cussed aloud as they saw the Boston guys in _their_ seats.

Then they saw Annie come out a serve them as if nothing was wrong. When she gave them their drinks she looked up and saw Mac, Mark, Bah, Buzz, Verchota, and Ramsey standing by the door looking really pissed. She said something softly to OC real quick and then sped off to a different table.

"Enough of this shit!" Mac angrily exclaimed.

His friend's knew what he meant. This was a lot more than just about the seats. It was what the whole tension between the players had been about, the '76 playoffs.

Mac then came up to the front of the group and began walking towards OC and the Boston guys. The rest of the Minnesotans followed. Silk saw the group coming towards them and nodded to OC, like they were expecting it. The blonde BU guy cockily turned around to face Mac and the other hockey players.

"Problem boys?" OC used his thick Boston accent.

"Yeah," Mac replied a little pissed, "Your in our seats."

"This is a free country, I can sit anywhere I want," OC shot back.

"Not here," Mac began to clench his fist beside him.

"Well then, what are you going to do about it?" OC asked confidently grinning.

Before Mac could try to take a swing at him, Rizzo intervened. He stood right in the middle of Mac and a sitting OC.

"Just stop man," Rizzo tried.

"Why should he?" Verchota piped from the back of Mac.

"If coach finds out he'll give us a ton of Herbies," Rizzo told them.

Mac thought for a moment and then lowered his fist. He took a deep breath and reluctantly said, "He's right."

"What about our seats?" Bah asked.

"We'll move," the curly haired Bostonian offered.

"No way!" OC protested, "I'm not getting up."

"No..we'll leave. Because unlike them, I don't hold stupid grudges like a five year old," Mac insulted.

Mac then walked away and went through the group. The rest of the guys followed behind. As they were leaving the bar, an angry OC got up to punch Mac for his last comment but Rizzo held him back and the guys left.

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The next day's practice was a little more tense than before. By then everyone knew about the dispute at the bar the previous night. Some suspected that Herb knew about it too, making them do more work than usual practices.

Annie was also the same as yesterday, only talking and helping out the Boston guys instead of the whole team. Since there was no meeting after practice, the guys tried to get out of their as soon as possible.

"I'd catch a ride with you but Herb wants to see me after I'm done helping you guys..." Mac heard Annie say as he and Mark left the locker room.

That night only five of the Minnesota guys came to the bar. They were Mac, Mark, Bah, Buzz, and Pav. They came in earlier than they normally did and sat in a completely different section because of their small group and they wanted to not see Annie.

They waited a minute for a waitress to come and we're talking amongst themselves then to their surprise they heard a familiar voice.

"Hey guys," Annie said with her head down looking at her notepad and fidgeting with her pen.

"Why are you here? You don't serve this section," Mac questioned.

"I know. I need to talk to you," she said in a 'duh' voice.

"Why?" Bah asked.

"Yeah, you could have talked to us in the locker room after practices, but you were too busy ignoring us," Buzz seconded.

"Look, I'm sorry ok. Today Herb full on yelled at me for not talking to you guys. And since I don't want to lose my job I need to talk to you for now on," she explained.

None of the guys said anything. Annie shifted her weight from one side to the other and took a deep breath. She placed her hand out to the center of the table.

"C'mon I'm serious. We don't have to be best buds or anything. I just need this job and you need help after practice. So truce?"

Mark, wanting the fighting to stop, shook her hand first, "Truce."

One by one they shook her hand. The last one to do it was Mac and he barely even touched it.

"Thanks," she sighed before walking away.


	7. Bickering at the Bar

**Meadow567: Thanks for the review. I'm so happy that you like the way I portray their feud. Because I honestly didn't want to sound like repetitive about them like not talking at all and I thought you all would be really annoyed by it. So thank you so much :)**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev- Thanks for reviewing. Mac and Annie have some problems this chapter and a little bickering too ;) And I have it up on Sunday, yay! I was so busy today, after I get this up I have to do all my homework! Well, I hope you like this chapter :)**

**AN: Here's my new chapter. And I got it up Sunday, like I said :) The name doesn't come from any song or movie (that I know about anyways lol). And after the chapter, you're more than welcome to review (HINT, HINT)**

**Chapter 7**

It was the end of August and everything was getting busier. The team started getting along a little better, all thanks to the peacemakers Mark and Rizzo, with a little help from Annie too. They talked more in the locker room, but never hung out after practice. OC and Mac didn't talk to each other though, and it didn't seem like they were gonna make peace any time soon.

Also, the teams expo games we're gonna start in the first week of September so the practices got increasingly harder. Conway always showed up after practice to help them with sore muscles and stuff but she was starting classes in the following week. She was already beginning to move into her dorm room, with a little help from her friend.

"Move that right over there," Conway pointed to the only spot in her little dorm that wasn't full of boxes.

OC put the box down in the corner and was a little out of breath from all the carrying, "Is that the last one?"

"For now," the brown eyed girl replied, "Most of my stuff is still at Gramp's house. You'll help me with those in like December before I officially move out."

"Help _you_? You didn't even do anything. All you did was stand there and point!" OC exclaimed.

"Well I don't work. I supervise," she replied back.

The two began to unpack some of the boxes that had the necessities: a record player, type writer, a black and white tv, and her clothes, which there wasn't too much of.

"Why do you have so many boxes if only like two of them were for clothes?" OC asked his best friend.

"Because most of them are filled with like records and my baseball cards..oh and some of my comics," Conway replied.

"Ok, Andrew," he joked using his boy name for her.

"Fine, Jacqueline," Annie shot back.

The two unpacked a lot of her stuff. Finally clearing the boxes on the other side of her room, which was where her roommate would put her stuff.

"Thanks again OC. I'd be like dead right now if I had to do it myself," Annie laughed.

"Conway you're such a lazy ass. I did all the work," OC teased.

"Yeah I know. And now you have to drive all the way back to your dorm, which really sucks because we're on the opposite sides of campus," Annie complained.

"It's only like a ten minute drive," OC told her.

"Yeah ten minute drive for you, an hour walk for me," the red head replied.

"Oh yeah," OC pointed and laughed, "Haha"

Annie punched him in the arm, "Shut up!"

She then realized that she had to work that night and quickly turned her head to her clock radio to see the time.

"Shit! I have to be at work in like ten minutes, can you give me a ride?" Conway asked.

"Fine," OC sarcastically groaned.

Annie punched him in the arm again, "Shut up!"

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Annie arrived at work a couple minutes late, but the boss wasn't too mad at her since she told him that she was moving into her dorm room that afternoon. She then got to her section of the bar and started taking orders.

She got to the Minnesotan guys table last because they had the largest group, consisting of at least ten guys and some girls at well, whom Annie presumed would be their girlfriends.

"Hey guys, what can I get ya?" she smiled at the guys, still in full peace agreement.

"Took you long enough," Mac complained to her from the center of the table.

"Well the whole world doesn't revolve around you, _Mac_," she fought back, putting extra tone in his name.

"That still doesn't give you the right to serve us last **and** coming late for work," Mac replied.

"I wanted to get the smaller tables over with first, idiot," Annie explained, "And I had to move into my dorm room today."

"Really?" Mark jumped in, immediately stopping the bickering match, "What building are you in?"

"Buckingham. Which is ironic because I heard it's the worst one," Annie laughed.

"Yeah it is," a blonde girl who was sitting next to Buzz replied, "I was there first year. It's really bad."

"When do you register for classes?" Bah asked, wanting her to forget about fighting Mac.

"Monday afternoon. So I might be late getting to the rink," she told them, "But whatever, what can I get you guys?"

They all ordered their drinks and Annie went to get them. The guys were used to doing this because Mac and Annie bickered sometimes. They found it the best way to stop was to get her sidetracked on a completely different topic.

As soon as Annie left, Marguerite, Phil's girlfriend gave Mac the meanest look.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Robbie?" she asked.

"What?!?" a confused Mac asked.

"You were being rude to that poor girl. She was just trying to do her job!" Marguerite exclaimed.

"She's not a poor girl! She's a bitch," Rob told her.

"Oh please. She was just being nice and getting our orders and you completely disced her," Phil's girlfriend fought back.

"I bet he likes her," Phil teased using a very childish voice.

Marguerite and couple of the other guys laughed at his voice before Mac could reply.

"Please, I don't like her. She's fugly..."Mac told the group.

Just then they all saw Annie at the beginning of the table with all their drinks. They knew she heard what they said. She didn't talk to them when giving them their drinks. And gave them the check before she left to serve other tables.

"Oh my God! You're so mean!" Gail, Buzz's wife, practically whispered in shock to him.

"Yeah, she's not ugly. If she put her hair down and wore some colors she'd probably be really pretty," Marguerite told him.

"Yeah dude, that was a little harsh," Mark told him.

"Yeah man, apologize," Verchota joked.

"Yeah Robbie, say your SORRY!" Bah teased.

The whole table started to tell him to say sorry. The started a chant and bang on the table, "Robbie say Sorry! Robbie say Sorry!"

Robbie, annoyed by the scene they were beginning to create, caved in. He got up and walked over to Annie as she was leaving a table she just served.

"Hey, I'm sorry about before," he said insincerely.

"It's fine," she replied, not looking at him but walking back to the bar.

He looked at the table and they all motioned their heads to Annie, thinking he didn't really talk to her. Mac walked over to her again, she was now standing at the bar dropping off her tray. He tapped her on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, ok?" he looked down at her.

Annie looked up and him and sighed, "I know. Can you just like not talk to me?"

She was now on her fifteen minute break and went to sit with OC and Jimmy, who were at the other end of the bar.

"Hey," Annie greeted them unemotionally.

"Hey," the two hockey players greeted her in unison.

"Why were you talking to McClanahan?" OC accused, sounding pissed, "Did he do something?"

"No," she lied, "It was just some stupid thing on the bill..."

OC and Jimmy shared a quick look of disbelief and then talked to Annie

"Are you sure? You don't seem too happy..."Jimmy said.

"I'm sure Jimmy," she laughed, "I'm just like wicked exhausted."

"You positive?" OC asked, glaring at Mac.

"Yeah. It was nothing. Nothing at all..."

**On the bottom left hand corner of your page is a scroll bar. The button next to it says GO. Press it and write what you think of the chapter ;)**


	8. Sympathy for the Devil

**Meadow567: Thanks for the review!**

**Neonnbible: Yeah Robbie was definitely an ass last chapter. But in this chapter he redeems himself :) Thanks for the review.**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the awesome review! I'm glad you liked my last chapter. I hope you like my new chapter!**

**AN: To everyone who reviewed my chapter, thank you :) I hope you like my new one. This one has a lot of Annie and Robbie stuff. The name of this chapter is the name of one of my absolute favorite song ever recorded lol, and it's even in this chapter. It's called "Sympathy for the Devil" and it's by The Rolling Stones. And the beauty of it, is that it works so well for the chapter. But anyways enjoy this chapter and review when you're done reading.**

**Chapter 8**

On Monday, Annie didn't show up at the time she normally does. Everyone knew that she had to register for her classes that day so no one thought she would come. The team just went to Doc for help instead and most of them left. Even OC, who gives her rides home, didn't stick around to see if she'd show up.

Annie finally rushed into the locker room almost an hour after practice was out. The only ones left were Mac, Bah, Pav, and Buzz. She looked a little out of breath.

"Hey," she breathed, "Sorry I'm late."

"It's ok. You had registration today," Pav said.

"Why are you out of breath?" Bah asked.

"I ran all the way here!" Annie exclaimed, "I didn't want to get in trouble."

"Oh that sucks, cuz everyone left," Buzz informed her.

"Even OC?" she asked, sounding upset.

"Yeah," Buzz said, "We're the only four left."

Annie looked over at the four boys that were still there. Mac and her shared a look but she quickly looked away.

"I ran here for nothing..."Annie whined as she sulked down into one of the empty benches.

"No you didn't," Bah tried.

"Yeah, Mac's back hurts like hell..." Pav explained.

Annie quickly looked over at him. He actually looked like he was in some pain. He looked over at her and Annie couldn't tell if he was giving a pleading face to help or a pleading face to go away. Annie then looked back up to the three hockey players she was talking too.

"Then why doesn't he take an aspirin?" she asked unemotionally.

"I HAVE!" Mac finally spoke up, "Everyday!"

"Why can't you just help him out?" Bah asked.

Annie took a deep breath. She didn't want any of the guys on the team to get mad at her, nor did she want to get yelled at by Coach Brooks again.

"Fine..." Annie sighed.

She then got up and walked passed the three players over to Mac's bench.

"Where in your back does it hurt?" she asked.

"My shoulders," Mac told her.

Mac then took off his shirt to reveal his six pack. Most girls would've probably swooned at the site but not Annie. She honestly didn't find him that attractive. Annie was about to begin to message his shoulders when the three other players spoke up.

"We gotta go," Buzz told them.

"See you guys later," Bah said.

Then the three left, leaving Mac and Annie alone in the locker room. It was completely silent for the first couple of minutes, until Mac spoke up.

"Look, about what happened on Saturday...I'm sorry," Mac told her.

"You already apologized," she gave extra pressure on his back.

"Owwww... yeah but I didn't mean it then. I thought about it on Sunday and what I said was uncalled for," he said sincerely.

She gave a little less pressure and started doing it normally again. Annie knew what he really felt, but he didn't really care about what he said, she was really tired that night and his comment was like a scapegoat to her troubles.

"I know you don't think I'm pretty," she told him, "And I honestly don't give a crap. I don't think I'm the prettiest girl but I don't care. The biggest priority in my life isn't what other people think of me. I think I'm fine just the way I am."

"Good. Because your not ugly," Mac said seriously.

"You're just saying that so I don't kill your back," Annie laughed.

"No," he laughed, "But seriously if you just got some newer clothes and put your hair down..."

"I get that a lot," she laughed.

"Maybe if you did you could get a boyfriend..."he teased.

Annie replied back by adding some more pressure to his shoulders, instead of the softer way she was messaging him before.

"Ow Ow Ow Owwww. I'm sorry. I was kidding," he tried.

She then went back to her normal way again, "I don't want a boyfriend. And even if I did I don't have time for one. Besides why would I want to dress and act like a whore just so some guys can gawk at me. Yeah, no thanks."

"Nobody said to dress like a whore. Just dress more like...not like a boy," Mac suggested.

"I'm fine, really. Thanks," Annie rolled her eyes.

The two just sat in an awkward silence not knowing what to say. Mac just sat on the bench and Annie sat behind him, still messaging him. Then she stopped.

"All done. Did it help?" she asked.

"Yeah thanks," he gave a half smile as he put his shirt on.

"Bye"

Annie then began to walk out when Mac called to her, "Need a ride?"

Annie slowly turned around to face Mac. He looked like he wasn't kidding around. She thought for a moment.

"No," she answered.

"Why not?" Mac asked.

"Because I don't like you," Annie answered.

"Why not?" Mac sounded hurt, his ego was a little shattered.

"Cuz OC's my best friend, remember?" she replied before walking out.

Mac took his hockey bag and stick and left the locker room. When he got to the lobby he saw Annie standing there, looking outside. It was a terenchal downpour.

"Still wanna walk?" Mac called out to her, with a smirk.

She turned to face him, "As a matter of fact, I've walked in the rain before. In weather worse than this. I can get home by myself!"

Then the sky light up and a big BANG was heard. It was the beginning of a thunder and lightning storm.

"Must be one of those late summer storms," Mac thought aloud, "Too bad you have to walk in it."

Annie grunted, "Fine you can give me a ride. But I won't like it!"

"That makes two of us!" Mac spat back.

The two then got out of the arena and ran as quickly as they could to Mac's car. When they got in, they were both soaking wet from head to toe. Mac reached in the back and grabbed two towels. He threw one to Annie before wiping himself of with his own.

Confused by Mac's act of kindness she looked down at the towel. Mac finished and looked up at her, looking at the towel.

"What?" he questioned.

"Thanks"

She then began to dry herself off as Mac began to drive her home. It wasn't a very long drive. Only about 15 minutes away from the rink. The first minute was silent, until Mac once again broke it.

"Why are you friends with OC?" he asked.

"OC's my best friend because he's my best friend. We've been friends since ninth grade," she answered him.

"That's why you were an asshole to me. Do you always do what he tells you to?" Mac started to interrogate her.

"NO!" she defended herself.

"Then why were you nice to me until the second you figured out I was Rob McClanahan?"

"Because you hurt my best friend. And I hate anybody who hurts any of my friends," she told him with an angry voice.

"Can't you have a thought of your own. Besides what your best friend thinks?" he asked.

"His dream was to win a National Championship. And you took that away from him! So I'm sorry if I'm not the cheeriest person when I'm around you," she fought.

"It wasn't your dream, it was his!"

Annie didn't say anything back. She didn't know what to say, and she knew that he was right. She didn't like him because of OC's opinion about him, not her own. The two sat in silence for a moment.

"Sorry," she said quickly, "For treating you like shit."

"I'm sorry too"

The car stopped at a red light and she placed her hand before him. She wanted to shake on the peace agreement again. The first time neither of them meant it, but this time she did.

"For real this time, peace?" she asked looking into his brown eyes.

"Peace," he looked into her brown eyes.

The two shook hand a lot more meaningful then the first time. The light then turned green and they let go. The drive was still another ten minutes away so Annie turned on the radio. It was on a rock station and was playing one of her favorite songs, "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones.

"Don't change it, it's one of my favorites," she told him as she bopped her head to the song.

"Mine too," he laughed.

She looked and him and gave a faint smile. He saw this a smiled back. She then started to sing aloud some of the lyrics:

**Pleased to meet you**

**Hope you guess my name  
But whats puzzling you  
Is the nature of my game **

Mac laughed and started to sing along:

**I stuck around St. Petersburg  
When I saw it was a time for a change **

They sang along for the rest of the song. After that the radio announced that they were doing an ABBA Greatest Hits hour. As soon as the DJ finished the word hour, Mac hastily turned it off. Annie saw this and laughed.

"You don't like them, do you?" he asked.

"No," she answered in a duh tone.

"Good," he nodded.

The two then reached Annie's house, which was actually her grandfather's. But she wanted to stay there tonight instead.

"Why aren't you at your dorm? Buckingham can't be that bad," Mac asked.

"It's not that. My roommate's having her boyfriend over...that and she's a bitch," she laughed.

"Sorry bout that," he gave a sympathetic smile.

"Me too," she nodded.

She then got out and before she closed the door she smiled at him and said, "Thanks for the ride."

Annie closed the door and ran as quick as she could inside. Mac waited until she got in ok and then drove back to his appartment.


	9. Give Peace A Chance Part I

**Meadow567- Thanks for the review. Mac and Annie are just friends for now and thats all they will be. But in upcoming chapters more stuff will happen, I promise ;)**

**miracle fan 9245- Wow thanks for the review! I'm glad you like my story so far :)**

**Neonnbible- Thanks for reviewing! Hope you like my next chapter.**

**Shariena- Thanks for the review! Glad you like my story :)**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev- Thanks for the review! Unfortunately Mac and Annie have no parts really in this chapter, but the next chapter is gonna be them ;)**

**AN: Sorry it took so long to put this up! I went away over vacation and I just got back last night! I tried really hard to get it up before I left, only to reread it the night before and realizing how much it sucked. But I finally have it up now! It was supposed to be longer but while writing the last part I came up with a really good idea for the story. So this is basically the first part of my chapter. The second part will be up Wednesday and it's sorta the second half of the very long chapter, but it seemed sorta weird to put it in here so thats why I decided to make it part two. Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing and I hope you like the new chapter :)**

**Chapter 9**

**Mid September, 1979**

The bar was crowded and the night was still young. College students from the U all flocked to P.J Kellehers before party hopping later that night. The guys were all away playing a game in the next city over and were expected to come back within the hour. Annie sweet talked the boss into reserving them all a table, but he was very reluctant about it. She really wanted two separate tables because of the friction between some of the guys, AKA Mac and OC. But after the truce Mac and Annie made two weeks earlier the team started talking more in the locker room, and sometimes Rizzo or Jimmy would hang out with the Minnesotans at their table in the bar.

"Here's your check. I hope you come again," Annie smiled to the people at the table she was serving, saying the overused good bye, that her boss makes all the waitresses say.

The guy at the table put his money on the table and then threw an extra dollar on the table.

"Here, go buy yourself some makeup," the guy said as he was putting on his coat.

"I think you need to give her more money for that," the girl he was with laughed.

The two customers then left Annie to clean up their mess and collect the money. She put the tip in her empty pocket and walked over to the register. Her boss, who was serving bar, began to talk to her.

"Did you get a tip yet?" he asked as he poured a drink into a glass.

"Finally," Annie sighed, "I've been working for almost two hours and I've only gotten a dollar for tips. It seems like I never get any tips."

"Really?" her boss asked, not sounding very surprised.

Annie nodded, "Yeah. I don't know why though. I'm not mean to my customers or anything. I'm patient with them and I don't take to long to serve them..."

"Sometimes it's not always about who you are...it's about what you are," her boss replied before leaving to serve some new customers.

"Wait...what?" he left a confused Annie.

Before Annie could even think about what her boss had just said, she heard a familiar voice call her name.

"Hey Conway!"

She looked up and saw OC stand by the crowded entrance. He was with Rizzo and the two hockey players moved through the crowd of people to their red headed friend at the bar.

"Hey. How'd the game go?" Conway greeted them.

"Great. We won!" OC smiled.

"Five to four, we scored in the last second," Rizzo recapped the game.

"Ohhhh it's too bad I missed it," Annie complained, "Who scored the winning goal?"

OC gave a pissed off look and Rizzo gave her the look and said quietly, "McClanahan."

Annie just rolled her eyes and smiled at Rizzo, they both started to find it funny that OC was still mad, especially Annie after talking to Mac about it when he drove her home.

"Whatever," OC sighed, still seeming mad, "Where am I sitting?"

Rizzo and he looked around the crowded bar, and it looked like no seats were open. The two Bostonians then saw a big booth in the back that was open and reserved.

"Thanks Conway," Rizzo smiled gesturing his head towards the booth.

Annie looked over and shook her head, "Ohhhh no thats not yours. I got my boss to save you guys a small table."

She then pointed to the other side of the bar to a much smaller table, with about ten chairs covering every corner of the table.

"What's with all the chairs?" OC asked.

"It's not just for you. It's for all the hockey players that usually come..."Conway explained.

"What?" OC almost shouted from shock.

"Yeah," she nodded, "It was the best I could do. So if you don't want to sit with Mac then don't sit there at all."

Rizzo wanted to walk over and sit down at the little table, but OC wouldn't leave without a fight.

"Why are you becoming like best friends with the enemy?" OC accused.

"The enemy?" Conway questioned and then said very slowly, "YOU'RE ON THE SAME TEAM!"

"Not by choice..."OC groaned.

Annie took a deep breath and confronted her best friend, "Ok, can you please just do this for me? You don't even need to talk to Mac. I'm just really busy tonight and I can't do this right now. So please, just sit there?"

OC reluctantly nodded, "Whatever."

The two hockey players walked over to the table and sat down. A couple minutes later Silky and Jimmy came into the bar and they too sat at the small table with two of their teammates. About twenty minutes later the Minnesotan guys came in. There weren't too many because she expected most of them to be at college parties. The guys that did show up were Bah, Mark, Ken Morrow, Ramsey, Bill Baker, and last but not least Mac.

The guys who just came in and saw how crowded it was and knew they probably wouldn't be able to get a seat. They looked around and saw Annie waiting for her drinks to serve at the bar. The six walked through all the college kids to the bar.

"Hey Conway," Bah greeted her.

She turned around and saw the six hockey guys. Things between them had gotten a little better since her truce with Mac and all. She served the guys drinks when they came to the bar and would talk to them a bit in the locker room, but they never hung out after practice or anything. Mac and her were also ok with one another. They would talk to each other in groups but didn't talk just to each other since the night he gave her a good ride, and for a good reason since OC would probably flip out.

"Hey guys," she smiled, "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Morrow said.

"Are there any seats open?" Ramsey asked.

"Well, I got my boss to save a small table for you guys," the red head tried to make this better then her first try.

"Cool," Mark said, "I think I see it over there in the back."

The five hockey players and Annie turned to see what Mark was looking at. He was talking about the same both that the other guys thought was theres, the nice big one that was already reserved for another event. This caused Annie to chuckle then she said:

"Oh no! It's that one over there. With OC, Jimmy, Rizzo, and Silky."

She then pointed to the correct table and all the guys who were sitting there were laughing about something. Annie noticed OC seemed a little less tense, which was a good thing.

The guys weren't hesitate about joining the table because they were friendly with Jimmy and Rizzo. The only one who seemed to have a slight problem was Mac, because OC was always a jerk to him. But Mac just went along with the rest of the guys and sat at the table. As they were walking Annie said to Rob, "Congrats on scoring the goal!"

Robbie simply nodded at her and went to sit with the other guys at the little table.

Annie's shift finished at ten. She clocked out of a very unsuccessful night, having only gotten about $1.50 in tips. When the waitress came back out to the bar she noticed all the guys were gone, probably out at a party. Annie smiled thinking about the guys finally being at peace but it quickly turned to a frown when she realized she had to walk home.

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Meanwhile, the guys seemed to be having a great time at the party. The Boston guys didn't know anybody there so they just talked to all the pretty girls without caring who they were going out with or went out with already. Some of the Minnesotans joined them and talked to any hot girl that they or their friends hadn't dated, hooked up with,or had sex with.

Mac was also talking to a girl, Christy, who he already knew from an English class he took the previous year. They seemed to be hitting it off pretty well until the hockey player saw something at the corner of his eye.

It was OC – talking to none other then Jamie, his ex girlfriend. Mac was pissed, he hated her and never wanted to see her face again. Mac left Christy, who was in mid sentence, to confront OC. When he got there Jamie was laughing at something that OC just said.

"Jamie, what the hell?" Mac asked.

The blonde turned around and laughed, pretending to act all innocent. Mac knew perfectly well that she knew what she was doing. She knew that Mac hated OC and the Boston guy had mutual feelings toward him.

"Hey babe, haven't seen you in a while. Hows it going?" she smiled.

"Spectacular," Mac rolled his eyes, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off with Andrew?"

Andrew was the guy that Mac caught her with a few days after their break up. Jamie was friends with him but Mac didn't like him, and for god reason. He was a womanizer. He flirted with every girl and tried to sleep with him. He even made bets with his friends to see how long it would take before he gets in bed with a girl, which sometimes he called conquests. And if he didn't get his way he'd bother them and always get on their nerves.

"Andrew? Ohhhh please," Jamie laughed, "I dumped his sorry ass months ago. He's so stupid and is always hitting on those waitresses down at P.J Kellehers anyways..."

By that time OC already left the conversation. He actually left when Mac first came in. He remembered something Annie told him about not fighting with Mac because there would be a good chance that he would get kicked off the team, that and the girl was sort of annoying anyways.

So OC just walked over to the keg and got himself another drink. He was about to take his first sip when he was greeted by Mark.

"Hey man"

"Hey," OC replied.

OC thought Mark was alright, and a very good hockey player, despite the fact that he was good friends with Mac.

"I saw Mac walk in on you and Jamie-"

"Oh thats her name? She never told me..."

"That's his ex-girlfriend," Mark explained.

OC then looked over at the ex-couple again, who seemed to be in a rather heated discussion. This time he seemed interested. Nothing would piss off Mac more than him nailing his ex-girlfriend.

"Really?" OC asked, trying to come off as if he didn't care.

Mark could see right through him, "Yeah, so you might want to keep it in your pants."

Mark walked away to join the rest of the party. OC took another sip of his beer and looked for the last time at Mac and Jamie. Mac looked even more pissed then when he first barged in on the conversation and left angrily. Jamie just stood there looking rather annoyed. OC just took another deep breath, gulped down the remainder of his beer in one swig, and went over to continue talking to the blonde.


	10. American Woman Part II

**Meadow567: Thanks for reviewing! And the ex-girlfriend stuff will definetely come back to haunt OC in a couple of chapters hint hint and don't worry she's not pregers lol**

**miracle fan 9245: Thanks for the review!**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it. The ex-girlfriend will shake a lot of stuff up in a few chapters. And Annie is definitely not gonna have bad stuff said about her in a while...**

**AN: Well my chapter is out. It's long just like I promised! I really hope you like it and thank you so much for reviewing :) And please review when you're done reading.**

**Chapter 10**

The next morning the team had an early practice. The guys guessed it was Herb's way of keeping them from partying too much but it didn't stop them. The locker room was dead silent. Everyone was exhausted and at least half of them were hungover. Most of the guys showed up on time except for OC who came bursting into the locker room with only five minutes to gear up.

"Why are you late, OC?" Silky teased.

"Overslept," OC lied.

"Sure.."Silky laughed

Mark glanced over at OC and saw the smirk on OC's face. Just by his expression Mark knew that OC had sex with Jamie. And he was at no position to tell Mac, especially since the team was finally able to make peace.

OC quickly got changed and all the guys got onto the ice. First drill, twenty Herbies in one minute. They knew this would be a long practice.

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Before Annie's class for day she decided to talk to her boss to hear what he meant last night. On her walk home the previous night she thought a lot about it and wanted to know what the whole story was. The redheaded waitress entered the empty bar. All the chairs were still up but she saw her boss at the bar counting the money in the cash register and paying some bills.

"Hey Joe!" she greeted as she walked towards the other end of the bar.

"Hey. I thought you had tonight off-" he replied.

"I do," she told him and then got straight to the point, "I just wanted to talk to you about last night...What did you mean when you said I don't get tips because what I am?"

"Well," he began, "I meant that you don't get many tips because of the way you look. Don't get me wrong you're not bad looking or anything and a pretty good waitress but your appearance is just so...boyish. You look like you don't care about what you look like and if you don't care about that then maybe they don't think you care about your job."

"Joe, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard! They can't not tip me cause they don't like the shirt I have on or something. And yeah you're right I don't always care about what I look like because I'm too busy with more important things. Besides that I'm not in a fashion show and if I wanted to be judged on my looks I should've taken the job at Hooters!"

"Take it easy!" he tried to calm down his employee, "Trust me you're not ugly! I'm just trying to say it wouldn't kill you to _sometimes_ wear clothes that aren't two sizes too big and the darkest shade of blue."

Annie took a deep breath. Part of her knew that he was right. Most of clothes were jerseys or shirts from her old schools. If not they were just plain tee shirts that were too big. But she didn't want him to be right. She didn't want to change for a few measly tips.

"Whatever," Annie grunted, "I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Hope I helped"

"Yeah..." she replied unemotionally as she walked out of the bar.

The redhead walked to her class, which thankfully wasn't too far away from the college bar. This was one of her favorite classes because she had become friends with the girl that sits next to her, Rachel Dawson. That and a guy in her class, named Tom, was really hot so whenever Annie got bored she'd just give him a glance.

During one of her professor's boring lectures she told Rachel about her problems at work and what her boss said about her appearance.

"Ok, well first of all your boss is sort of an asshole..."Rachel tried, "I mean you shouldn't change who you are to get some tips."

"I know!" Annie sighed, "I just don't know what to do! I'm not gonna whore myself up for money for God's sake!"

"He never said to make yourself into a whore, Annie. I think he just doesn't like that you dress like a tomboy...but there's nothing wrong with that," Rachel insisted.

"Well how does he want me to look like?" Annie asked.

"He just wants you to wear like normal stuff girls wear, not sports jerseys," the blonde friend guessed then offered, "I'll tell you what, how about you come to the mall with me tonight maybe-"

"I'm not going to the mall," the redhead interrupted, "I don't even have enough money!"

"Don't worry there's a big sale going on. But we won't buy too much...maybe a couple shirts and a pair or two of jeans...a skirt-"

Annie then interrupted her again, "No way! No skirts! And nothing pink either! I hate that color..."

"Ok no skirts and not anything pink, I promise! So what do you say? It won't be bad..."

"Ok," Annie said shyly.

"Ok?" Rachel mimicked.

"Fine, I'll go!" Annie laughed.

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Later that day, Annie went to practice to help the guys out. They all looked pretty exhausted but it didn't stop them from making jokes in the locker room. A few of the guys were really pestering OC about why he was almost late to practice but OC lied and said he overslept, then quickly changed the subject by asking if Annie needed a ride home. Annie said yes, getting ride she could, and he'd probably tell her in the car anyways.

"So how was the party last night?" Conway asked.

"It was alright. Not as good as some of the shit we had at BU though," OC answered.

"Yeah," Annie laughed thinking of some of the memories, "I'm guessing thats why you were late then. Because you got really drunk and woke up in like a dumpster? Or better yet in some random girl's bed..."

"You know I'm sorta hungry..." OC tried to go off topic, "I think I'm gonna go to the Burger King up the street."

OC then changed lanes in order to get closer to the fast food joint. Annie didn't want to give this up now, she knew it must have been big.

"Ok, now I gotta know...what happened?" she laughed.

"I'll tell you inside," he replied as he pulled into the parking lot.

He parked the car and the two sat in silence. They then both walked into the Burger King. As OC got his food, Annie sat down because she wasn't very hungry. OC took notice when he came to the table with a tray of food.

"Not hungry?" he asked as he sat down.

"No. I had lunch with my gramps," she told him then went back to the previous discussion, "So what happened?"

"Promise you won't tell anyone?" OC tried.

"Pinky promise," she stuck out her right pinky towards him.

OC rolled his eyes and shook it with his right pinky. He found it sort of funny that she still did that. He met her in ninth grade but he guessed that she had done that her whole life.

"I hooked up with Mac's ex-girlfriend," OC confessed.

"What?!?" Conway gasped.

"Well I was talking to her at the party yesterday but I wasn't really into her. So while we were talking Mac came in and was like 'What the hell?' and stuff so I left. Then Mark told me that she was his ex-girlfriend and it just seemed like such a good idea at the time..."he explained.

"Everything seems like a good idea after a couple of beers, OC," she told him, "Do you feel bad or something?"

"No it's not that...she just wasn't very good. I mean it would've been worth it if she was better but now I feel stupid"

"Good, because you should"

OC groaned, "Are you kidding me? Why are you taking McClanahan's side on this?"

"I'm not!" his best friend fought, "I'm saying you should just feel bad in general. Doing it with a girl just to spite someone you hate is wrong! And not just for this case, it's in general."

"Whatever," OC shrugged, unconvinced of her fight.

"I'm serious! If some guy that you hated started flirting and got like inappropriate with Katherine you'd be pissed right?" she tried, throwing in his little sister as an example.

"I guess you're right," he sighed, "And who the hell is messing with Katherine?"

Annie laughed at his tone of voice on the last part. He sounded sort of angry, like a real protective older brother, which was really weird since they can't even stand each other.

"No one," she tried and then changed the topic, "Anyways I have tonight off!"

"Finally! You never get nights off. What do you wanna do?" OC anxiously asked.

"Actually I'm hanging out with a friend of mine from my Anatomy class," she explained, "But that isn't until like seven. We can hang out before."

"Thats alright," he tried to sound cool, "And since tomorrow is Saturday we can chill then. I think the Sox are playing the Twins..."

"Cool," she smiled.

"So where you going with your friend?" he asked.

"She's taking me to the mall," she tried to sound casual.

OC nearly chocked on his food when he heard this. Conway hated shopping and only went when it was absolutely necessary like Christmas.

"Is this the apocalypse? Or are you seriously going to the mall?" he joked.

"Shut up!" she exclaimed then made up some excuse to why she was going, "I don't have many clothes and I hate rewashing them every few days...I'm only getting like some shirts and a pair of jeans."

"Are you using the money from the bar? Because you still have a lot more money to put in your Mustang fund," OC pointed out to her.

The main reason Annie took this job was to save up for a car. She hated walking home in the cold and couldn't wait to have her own set of wheels.

"There's a big sale going on," Conway explained.

"Ohh and while you're there you should get a trim. You have split ends," OC, the hair expert, advised.

Annie rolled her eyes. She couldn't help it. He was always like that. He was even voted Best Hair in the senior class, when he was a junior!

"Well thank you for that nice word of wisdom, Warren Beatty," she laughed referring to Beatty playing a straight hairdresser.

"I'm just saying..."OC gave his obnoxious know it all smirk.

Annie just giggled and threw one of his fries at him, "Whatever George Roundy."

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That night P.J Kellehers was packed. Annie was so happy that she wasn't working that night. But she went so she could meet up with Rachel there. OC and Silky were also with her.

"So is your friend hot?" Silk asked.

"Uhmm yeah I don't know," she awkwardly answered.

"What does she look like?" Silk insisted, he really wanted to know.

"Rachel, she has blonde hair-" then she was interrupted.

"Yes!" he heard Silky exclaim.

OC came back from the bar with two drinks in his hands. He handed one to Silky and kept the other for himself.

"Where's mine?" Annie demanded.

"At the bar. I only have two hands!" OC laughed as he took his first sip.

Annie got up to get her drink at the bar. She talked to one of her co-workers, who was now serving Annie the drink. She felt a tap on her back and turned around. It was Rachel.

"Hey," Annie smiled.

"Hey," Rachel replied, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, lemme finish this beer first," she held up her full glass to her.

"Ok," Rachel said, "So are any of your hot hockey friends here?"

The redhead laughed, "Trust me they aren't hot. And only OC and Silky are here now."

"Oh c'mon Annie! I went to Smith for four years. I need to get back on the wagon," the blonde tried, Smith is an all girls school in Western Mass.

"Your mom goes to Smith," Annie laughed at her own 'your mom' joke.

Annie then sipped the remainder of the beer and the two girls were on their way out of the bar, but not before being sidetracked by OC.

"Conway, where you going?" he shouted out to her.

"I already told you, OC, I'm going to the mall now," she laughed and then made the introduction, "This is Rachel by the way. Rachel that's OC and the pretty eyed boy is Silky."

"Hey," Rachel nodded at them.

"Well Rachel, I must say that you've taken on a difficult challenge. Getting Conway to go to a mall," OC laughed by the thought of it, "You probably won't get her to buy anything."

"Well OC, your parents took on the difficult challenge of raising you. But they still tried," Rachel shot back with her New York accent.

Silky and Annie both cracked up at her insult. Hardly anybody ever talked back like that to OC. She was pretty brave to do it. OC looked like he was taken aback by this too.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Boston boy"

"Ok," Annie tried to break them up, "Let's get going."

"Yeah, then I won't have to look at that kid's face," she gestured towards OC, "See you around boys."

Annie and Rachel left the bar and while walking towards the bus stop Rachel began to laugh.

"Oh my God! Your friend is so hot..."she giggled.

"Who?" Annie asked confused.

"OC!" the blonde exclaimed, "Jeez...your obviously blind..."

"Trust me! I don't think any of my guy friends are hot. And they don't think that way about me either," Annie told her.

"Ohhhh...they will," Rachel winked.

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The guys stayed at the bar after Annie left and more of their teammates joined them. They all sat in a big both and were just joking around.

"So I heard Conway's friend completely burned you," Rizzo laughed.

"Who?" Buzz asked.

"Her name is Rachel, I think," Silk answered him, "And she did disc him."

"Hardly," OC tried to sound suave, "The only reason I didn't say anything back was because she's hot."

"Sure..."Cox murmured.

"Is OC forming a crush?" Silky teased.

"No way! She seems like a bitch...that and she's from New York. I hate the Yankees!"

"She can't be that bad if Conway's hanging out with her,"Rizzo tried.

"I still can't believe she's going to the mall,"Jimmy laughed.

"Why's that?" Mac asked.

"Because she hates shopping," Jimmy said, "Last year I asked her to help me get a gift for my girlfriend but she refused to go!"

Just then Annie and Rachel walked in. They didn't really notice until she walked over to the table.

"Hey guys"

The guys looked up and saw her. They were all taken aback. She looked different, and in a good way. She wore a simple bold light blue colored tee shirt, that was actually her size with high wasted jeans. And her hair, which was normally crinkly and in a messy bun, was straight and laid across her shoulders. She also had bangs instead of the one length she used to have. She had a tint of make up on, but it was the natural look. The guys didn't speak, they had no clue what to say.

"Hey guys," she laughed, "Do I have like a big booger on my face or something?"

The guys still didn't know how to respond to her makeover, it was a complete awkward silence until OC spoke up.

"Who are you and what did you do to Conway?" he asked.

Annie looked a little disappointed by his initial response. She was really hoping for a compliment, since it took so long to get her hair to look like that and it took at least thirty minutes for Rachel to persuade her to wear some natural looking makeup.

"Ok this is awkward," Rachel laughed, "I'm gonna head out. See you in class Annie," then nodded, "OC"

The blonde New Yorker walked out of the bar. Annie looked at all the guys staring at her and didn't like all that attention.

"I'm gonna go to the bar...I'll see you guys later," she awkwardly shifted to the side.

Then she walked as quickly as she could to the bar, where her boss was serving some drinks.

"Hey Joe"

"Hey...HEY! Holy shit!" Joe exclaimed.

"Thanks...I guess," Annie laughed.

A coworker of hers was also at the bar getting some drinks. She turned around and saw Annie.

"Hey. Oh my gosh! I love your bangs. They look so pretty!"

"Thank you," Annie blushed shyly.

She sat at the bar to talk to her boss and her coworker. The redhead definitely didn't want to go and sit with the guys. They were being so weird and awkward about it. About twenty or so minutes passed and she was still talking to them, when Mac came up to the bar.

"Can I have another Bud Light?" he asked Joe, not even noticing Annie.

"Coming right up," the bartender replied.

Mac then turned and faced Annie.

"Oh hey!" he tried to sound surprised.

"Hey," Annie laughed, "Whats up?"

"Nothing," Mac replied, "OC and most of the guys left, so I'm heading out pretty soon."

"That's cool,"Annie nodded.

"You look...you look good," he tried.

"Thank you," she smiled, "All the other guys were being weird about it, I just couldn't sit there."

"Yeah...well you look nice...not that you don't always look nice...you just look even more nice," Mac stumbled between words.

Annie nodded and half laughed, "Ok."

"Is that a new shirt?" Mac tried to change the subject.

"Yeah it is," Annie answered.

"It's good...it doesn't look too big..."

"What?" Annie awkwardly laughed.

"No! Your not big...the shirts you normally wear are big and this is actually your size...so thats good," Mac recovered.

"Thanks I guess," Annie sympathetically smiled, "I have to go. I'll see you on Monday."

Annie got off the stool and walked out of the restaurant. She laughed to herself and thought, 'Wow, Mac must be so drunk right now. He couldn't even say a full sentence."

The redhead than walked back to her dorm and called it a night.

**So...whatcha think?**


	11. Oh Joy!

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the review. Mac and Annie were pretty awkward but they're a lot better this chapter lol. I hope you like it!**

**Neonnbible: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it. Annie and Mac will have another moment but it won't be as awkward as before lol. And I'm glad you liked Rachel, she'll be in a couple more chapters :)**

**meadow567: Thanks for the review. Annie actually won't be jealous of Rachel and OC cuz when they get together they're gonna break up twice...a day lol. Mac will show some interest and she'll get some more tips, especially from a particular table...**

**Miracle fan 9245- Thanks for reviewing. Mac will talk to Annie again this chapter but not as awkward lol. I hope you like it!**

**AN: Thanks everyone who read and reviewed. I hope you like this chapter. It's not as long as this one but I didn't want you to wait anymore for the chapter. It's kind of a filler, I won't lie, but it actually has some hints of stuff to come up later so you might like that. Anyways enjoy and review when your done! **

**Chapter 11**

The following day was when OC and Conway planned on going to the baseball game. It was a perfect opportunity to find out what the deal with Conway was. She said she was planning on getting some shirts and when she came back she looked like a life size bimbo Barbie, with long straight hair and makeup. Well at least he thought so anyways.

The game started at one so OC went to Conway's room at twelve thirty to pick her up. Right when he was about to knock his best friend opened the door.

"Hey"

"Hey whats up?"

"I'm good. Can you wait here like two seconds? I really need to go to the bathroom!" the redhead asked, she looked like she was about to explode.

"Yessssssssssssssssssss," he joked making a very long 's' sound.

"I hate you!" she exclaimed as she ran at full speed out of the room to the nearest bathroom.

OC just laughed at her and then sat on her bed, waiting for her return. About thirty seconds later a tall brunette girl walked into the room, probably her roommate. She was smoking a cigarette and didn't even notice OC until she closed the door. When she saw she looked at him with disgust.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Conway's friend. I'm just waiting for her to come back, and thats in like a minute so-"

"So you think you can just stay here?" she asked, sounding very mad.

"Uhmmm yeah," the hockey player answered in a 'duh' tone.

"Well I'm busy so you have to-"

"Oh Joy," Conway groaned as she entered the room.

"What the hell happened to your hair? Did they have to cut the bush by using pliers?" Conway's roommate laughed.

Annie then immediately crack up and she laughed so loud and in such a fake tone that even OC was taken aback. Her roommate stopped laughing but Annie just kept on going. Then she suddenly stopped and said:

"You know you're pretty funny. Maybe if your teeth didn't look like you just drank urine, from your smoking, and your face didn't make you look like a constipated bitch all the time you'd actually have some friends!"

She then quickly left the room with OC at tow. He had to walk faster to catch up with his best friend, who looked like she had steam coming out of her ears.

"I hate her so much!"

"That's your bitchy roommate? What's her name?" OC asked.

"Joy!" she exclaimed.

OC laughed at the ironic name and Conway just rolled her eyes.

"You must really hate her. I mean I haven't heard you being that mean to anybody since-"

"Von Liberman," the redhead grinned her teeth.

While the two was walking out of the building OC noticed something different about her. Her Red Sox shirt looked much smaller then the one she always had.

"What happened to your shirt?" he asked.

"Oh," she turned and showed her back, "I tied the bottom of the back in a ponytail and tucked it under. Rachel taught me."

"I bet..." OC rolled his eyes.

"Whats wrong with that?" Conway asked as she opened the car door, sensing some tension.

"Nothing," OC shrugged.

Conway just got into the car, not wanting to get into a fight with her best friend. The game was fun, even though the Sox lost, which pleased all the Twins fans in the stadium. OC and Conway seemed to be ok. Whatever was bothering OC before the game passed and Annie was relieved about that. He seemed so bugged out last night when she got back from the mall that she didn't think he'd be too happy with her. Conway was just glad that everything was alright between the two.

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A couple of days had passed and everything was pretty normal. After going to that party the guys started hanging out a bit more out of practice, which was a very good thing. Of course some of the guys didn't talk to each other, Mac and OC and sometimes Silky, but other than that the team seemed to be doing ok.

That night Annie was working a double shift at the bar. It was pretty crowded but not as bad as most nights. She was assigned to a different section of the bar that night and only saw the guys when they walked in. But the redhead merely nodded at them and got back to work.

"Hey you took my advice"

She was clearing a table that a group of four or five guys was sitting at when one of them said that.

"Excuse me?" she asked, not knowing what the hell he was talking about.

"The makeup," he told her, "Last week I told you to by some makeup with my tip and you obviously did."

Annie now remembered that she didn't like him very much, "Oh, well I gave that to charity."

"That's funny so did I," he joked and all his friends laughed.

The group of guys got up and left Annie to clean off their table. Annie just rolled her eyes as she saw them leave. She walked to the back room and put the dirty glasses into the washing machine. When Annie came back out she saw Mac right in front of her getting a drink from the bar.

"Hey," she greeted him unenthusiastically.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired"

"I saw you talking to Andrew..."

"Who's Andrew?" she asked.

"He was with a couple of other guys. You just served them," he told her.

"Ohhhh," she groaned.

"Yeah. You should just stay away from him."

"Why?"

"I just know him ok..."

"Yeah," Annie was skeptical, "He's not exactly on my list of favorite people so I doubt I'd hang out with him...ever"

"Good," Mac took a sip of his beer.

Annie laughed on the inside when she saw Mac take that drink. She couldn't help but think of right after she got back from the mall. To her he seemed so drunk he couldn't even make a full sentence without flustering.

"You know you might want to take it easy on the drinks," Annie advised.

"Whys that?" Mac asked.

"Last week when I was talking to you, you were so wasted you could hardly talk!" Annie chuckled.

Mac turned slightly red. She actually thought he was drunk thats how awkward he sounded.

"Oh yeah..." he played along, "This will be the last one then"

Before Annie could say anything Phil came up to him and drunkenly put his arm around Mac's shoulders.

"C'mon man quit flirting with all the girls..." he then looked up and saw Annie and laughed, "Ohhhh never mind...but then again you are sort of hottie now so..."

"Phil!?!" a familiar voice shouted in back of them. It was his girlfriend Marguerite.

"Sorry babe, I was asking him if he wanted to go to the movie tonight. A bunch of us are going..." he offered to Mac.

Mac looked at Annie and gave her the look. They both found a drunk Phil Verchota very amusing.

"Sure," he reluctantly gave in.

"You can come too if you want, Conway," Phil turned to the waitress.

"I'm working. Maybe another time though," she nodded.

"Come on babe," Marguerite tried to lead him out but not before smiling at Annie, "Oh cute haircut by the way."

"Thank you," Annie smiled shyly.

Mac then got up and laughed to Annie, "You're so lucky that you're not going."

"No I'm not. I'd rather see drunk Phil than drunk stranger. Tell me if he does anything stupid!" Annie laughed with him.

"Will do!"

"Bye"

"Bye"

Mac walked out of the bar following Phil, Marguerite, and a couple other hockey players. OC and Silky were also going but couldn't help but notice Conway talking to McClanahan. And OC was pretty ticked off. Not wanting to get her into trouble and Rizzo urging him to get going, he left.

**Hope you liked it! Please review!**


	12. All Together Now

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev- Thanks for the review. Joy will be in a couple more parts and trust me she gets a lot more "Joyful" lol.**

**Meadow567- Thanks for the review. I'm glad that you want Mac and Annie to get together. They'll have more flirting parts coming up so I hope you like them :)**

**AN: Here's chapter 12. After your done reading you are more then welcome to review ;). Reviews are always obliged. Hope you like it.**

**Chapter 12**

**Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One**

The buzzer went off for the last time and the crowd cheered. The team had just beat Wisconsin, a rival of the University of Minnesota, at a expedition home game. Annie was at the game too, helping out the guys because she had traded shifts with another waitress.

"Nothing hurts or anything, right?" she asked as soon as she walked into the locker room.

"No," the twenty four hockey players groaned. Two had already been cut.

"Ok," the red head smiled, "Well good game and I'll see you all later."

Annie turned around and began to leave the locker room as quickly as she came in. The only thing that stopped her from practically sprinting out was Mac asking her:

"Wait, aren't you gonna come out with us tonight?"

Annie turned around to answer him, "No I can't. I've gotta type up a paper for my Biochemistry class. And I'm so slow with those damn things that it will take me all night to get it done."

"That sucks," Bah said.

"I know," she shrugged.

"I gotta go," Mark said.

The center forward was already done. He got ready fast because that night he was going out with his dad, Bob Johnson, the coach of the Wisconsin team. He didn't talk about his dad too much because he and Herb hated each other, which is why he was so surprised that he got on the team.

"You too?" Rizzo laughed.

Mark nodded and left the locker room with Annie. The pair walked together to the parking lot.

"Where are you going tonight?" Annie asked.

"I'm going out to eat with my dad..." Mark explained.

"He was here tonight?"

"Yeah. He's the coach for Wisconsin," Mark answered.

"Wait!" Annie halted, "Your dad is Bob Johnson?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"That must be awkward..."Annie laughed.

"Yeah," he laughed with her.

The two then were going their separate ways. Mark meeting his dad over at his car and Annie was about to walk home.

"See ya Mark"

"Bye"

It was not too long after that when the rest of the team was emerging from the locker room. OC and Silky were two of the first people out. Rizzo came out not too long afterwards. When he met up with OC and Silky, OC looked as if steam was coming out of his ears.

"Whats the matter with you?" Rizzo asked.

"McClanahan was all over Conway tonight. And that wasn't even the first time he's done that either," the blonde hockey player answered.

"Dude, he wasn't all over her," Rizzo tried, "They were talking. They're just barely friends..."

"Are you blind? He's been practically drooling all over her ever since she decided to turn into a life size Barbie," OC fought.

"No he hasn't," Rizzo stressed.

OC still looked pretty pissed and Rizzo knew that no matter what he said nothing would help.

"I'm gonna go back to the dorms to get ready to go," Rizzo told him, "Don't do anything stupid!"

Both Rizzo and Silky left and went to a car where a few hockey players were waiting for them. OC stayed there, he had to tell McClanahan to back off. Mac came out by himself a couple minutes later. He walked over to his car and was unlocking it when somebody pushed him up against it. He turned around and was face to face with O'Callahan.

"What the hell, man?"

"Stay away from her!" OC warned, putting his arm out in front of Mac so he couldn't leave.

"Who?" Mac asked, already knowing.

"CONWAY! Stay the hell away from her!" OC warned for a second time, putting his arm against Mac's neck.

"Or what?" the brown haired hockey player asked.

"Or..." he was then cut off.

"Gentlemen"

The two guys turned their heads and saw Coach Brooks standing there, looking very upset. OC immediately let go of his grasp on Mac.

"Coach," they both said in unison.

"Both of you in my office, now!" he sounded mad.

Brooks turned and angrily walked back into the arena with two of his skaters in tow. He unlocked his office and turned the lights on. He sat down at his desk and the two guys sat in the chairs in front of it.

"What the hell was the meaning of that? Never in my entire career as a hockey coach have any two players hated each other as much as you two do!"

He then turned to OC, "Do you want me to kick you off this team, OC? Because I can," then faced both of the boys, "And I will if you two can't get along."

Brooks turned his head to Mac, "Where you from Mac?"

Mac rolled his eyes. They had already done this before, after they got into a fight in one of their first practices.

"St. Paul, Minnesota"

"What about you OC?"

"Boston, Mass"

"You two were chosen above all the other college hockey players in this nation. I could've picked up any other kid from St. Paul or Boston but I chose you two instead. And I can easily cut you both and get those other kids to play for me instead..."

Both the hockey players stayed silent and just nodded in understanding.

"Alright get out of here," he shrugged, "If I hear so much as one curse word from either of you, then you can pack your bags and go home."

The two hockey players nodded again and left his office, not saying another word to each other. Mac drove home and OC was about to walk back to the dorms when a car was driving beside him. The window opened and he saw a familiar New Yorker.

"Need a lift?" Rachel asked.

"Sure," he nodded.

He got the car and sat in shot gun.

"Nice ride," he told her.

"I know. My dad gave it to me. He's the general manager of Ford," she said in a matter of fact tone.

She then sped off and drove down the street cutting off cars and taking very sharp turns. OC held on to the door guarding his life. She finally got to his building in record time.

"Murphy building, right?" she asked calmly.

OC just turned to her in shock, "What the hell was that?"

"What?"

"DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and shrugged, "Well I'm from New York City. I usually just took the subway-"

"Clearly," OC rolled his eyes.

"Shut up!" Rachel exclaimed, "Without me, you'd still be walking home right now!"

"Yeah thank God, for your reckless driving."

"You know maybe if you weren't such an arrogant son of a bitch, I might actually like you..."

"And maybe if you weren't a Yankee fan bitch, I'd like you..." he shot back.

"You know I'm a Yankees fan!" she said proudly.

"Well I'm a Sox fan so-"

"That's too bad," she moved closer to him, "Because I thought you were hot. But since you're a Red Sox fan..."

"Well I thought you were wicked hot too until you told me you were a Yankees fan," he moved closer to her.

"Actually I'm a Mets fan," she whispered to him, "Yankees suck!"

"Tell me about it," he whispered to her giving his famous smirk.

"I hate you!" she laughed.

"I hate you too," he grabbed her face and pulled her into a kiss.

She kissed him back fiercely and after a minute of making out in her car, she pushed him away.

"You're going out tonight," she told him.

"I can stay," he replied.

"Well then I'm going out tonight. Seriously with some friends," she nodded towards the door.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked.

"No. So scoot"

He shrugged and got out of her car.

"I hate you!" he yelled as she began to drive away.

"I hate you more!" she yelled back through the open window.

He watched as her car drove off and smirked to himself. She was going to be interesting.

**Well that was Chapter 12. I hope you liked it and please review!**


	13. Search and Destroy

**Lola: Glad you liked my chapter and thanks for the review!**

**Meadow567: Thanks for the review. It's really funny because those two parts you liked, I wasn't gonna put it in there and I made it up as I was going along. Especially the Rachel and OC part. I'm glad you liked it lol.**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev- Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you liked my chapter. Especially Herb's yelling and Rachel/OC because I completely made them up on the spot to make the chapter longer lol**

**AN: Here's chapter thirteen for everyone. I hope you all like it. The name comes from a song by The Stooges and the last chapter title came from a song from The Beatles. Anyways enjoy the chapter and remember to _review_ when your done!**

**Chapter 13**

By the Monday following the Wisconsin game almost everybody on the team knew about the fight between Mac and OC. They knew all about it except for the fact that it was about Conway because they were assuming it was about the game that night or something like that. Conway didn't know about it and the team wanted to keep it that way so they chose not to talk about it when she came after practice.

"Any of you guys catch the Vikings game last night?" she asked everyone as she helped Phil stretch out a sore muscle.

A couple of the guys groaned 'yeah' or 'I went' but the guys didn't seem like they were up to talking that day. Annie just thought that they were all tired from practice so decided it was best that they just rest and not talk.

"Ok, all done Phil," the redhead told the hockey player.

"Thanks Conway," Phil sounded a lot more relieved.

"Your welcome. Anybody else need help?" she offered.

She looked around and realized that she already helped most of the guys, except for Mac.

"No" she heard a couple of the guys answer.

Annie turned to Mac and asked, "Are you sure you don't need anything? You're the only one I haven't helped today..."

"No," he answered coolly while brushing past her out of the locker room.

"Ok," she glared as she watched him go, "I guess I'll see you all tonight or tomorrow or something."

Conway left the locker room only seconds after Mac did but he was nowhere in sight. She was so taken aback by his behavior towards her. He was usually talkative and recently even gotten Annie engaged in his conversation with the rest of the guys but today he didn't even look at her. Once Annie got out of the arena, she didn't want to think about it anymore and just assumed his negative attitude was because he was tired like the rest of the guys.

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The next day the team was a lot better. Herb gave them an easier practice because they had an away game in Duluth that night. They were chatting and joking in the locker room when Annie came in.

"Hey Conway, you going to the game tonight?" Pav asked as soon as the redhead walked in.

"No," she shook her head, "I've gotta work at the bar tonight. But good luck!"

"Work sucks,"Morrow shrugged.

"Yeah," Annie agreed, "Speaking of work does anyone here need any help?"

All the guys shook their heads and in unison said, "No"

"Yay! You all make my job so easy," she laughed, "Are you guys leaving now or can anybody give me a ride home?"

"No," Buzz told her, "We're leaving in like an hour and a half and we're staying up there tonight after the game so we won't be back until tomorrow morning."

"So you_ can _give me a ride home?" she got straight to the point.

Annie looked at the faces of all the hockey players. Most of them weren't ready to give her a ride home, with the exception of Mac. He looked like he wanted to give her a ride home but before she could ask him OC jumped in:

"I can give you a ride home, Conway"

Conway turned to her best friend and smiled, "Thanks OC"

She happily left the locker room with OC trailing behind. Before he left he gave Mac a very mean look that everyone on the team noticed. While the guys were waiting in the locker room to go, Mark sat on Mac's bench to talk.

"What really happened between you and OC?" Mark asked right as he sat down.

"We got into a fight," he explained for the umpteenth time.

"About what?"

"I don't know. That guy always has something to be mad about," Mac told his friend.

"Is it about '76?" Mark kept trying.

"No," Mac answered.

Mark then thought for a moment and then figured it out, "It's about Conway isn't it? That's why you gave her the cold shoulder..."

"No, Magic. Why can't you you just back off?"

Mac got up and went to hang out with some of the other hockey players leaving his sorta hurt best friend.

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It was now Wednesday and the team had gotten back from their game in Duluth that morning. When OC got back he called Annie and proudly told her that the team crushed their opponents and described all his great plays. She couldn't get him off the phone until she told him that she had to get to a class and that she'd see him at the bar later.

"Hey babe," Annie heard the usual annoying voice call out for her as she waited tables.

She turned to face Andrew, who's face was only two inches away from hers.

"Go away, I'm working," the waitress rolled her eyes.

"How 'bout that date I told you about?" Andrew tried, putting his hand on her lower back.

"In your dreams," Annie told him as she slammed her foot on top of his.

She turned around again and saw Mac staring at the two. Annie wanted him to know that she kept to her word about not talking to him but he was always all over her at work now and days. She went to confront Mac about it but not before getting slapped in the ass by Andrew. She looked at him like she wanted to kill him but she realized he was nothing that she wanted to lose her job over. She took a deep breath and went to talk to Mac but he was already gone.

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Thursday was a rainy day. A very rainy day. Annie was lucky enough to get a ride from Rachel to the arena but she was still an hour late. She ran inside from the car trying to avoid getting wet.

It was empty. She took a quick look into the locker room and saw no one. She knew that Herb and Craig and Doc had probably all gone home.

"Great," she sighed to herself as she put her hand on her wet forehead.

Then she heard someone come out of the weight room and she quickly looked up. It was Mac. He was alone and still had all his hockey stuff, just finished with a workout.

"Oh thank God you're here!" Annie exclaimed as she ran over to him, "Can you offer a dame a ride home?"

"No," he answered sternly.

"Why not?" Annie went from happy to mad in that very short span of time.

"I'm busy," he lied, "I told my big brother that I'd hang out with him today."

"It's pouring out, what are you going to do?" she questioned.

"Shoot pool," Mac replied.

"Can't you give me a ride home?" Annie asked, "It will only take like ten minutes."

"No can do. I'm already late. Besides why can't your boyfriend Andrew drive you home?," Mac walked passed her and kept walking to the exit.

"I hate Andrew! He's always harassing me at work! Can't you please give me a ride home. You gave me a lift last time!" Annie shouted to him.

Mac turned to look at the brown eyed redhead. He gave her a sympathetic look.

"It's different now"

He then put on his baseball cap and braved out into the pouring rain. Annie watched him go and thought to herself for a moment. She knew that Rachel had already left and had no idea what her number was. She knew OC's number and also knew that he always hung out with Rizzo after practice and she didn't know Rizzo's number. Annie had no other options but to walk home. She sighed before she walked outside and ran to her dorm room as fast as she could, still getting soaking wet.

**Hope you all liked it. My next chapter should be up on Saturday :)**


	14. Gimmie Shelter

**Meadow567- I'm really happy that you want them to get together. When I thought about this story at first I really didn't want it to be cliché because I knew this idea was overused. So I tried as hard as I could to make it different. Thanks so much for the review and I really think you'll like this chapter.**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev- Thanks for the review! And don't worry Mac is definitely going to redeem himself in this chapter. I hope you like it ;)**

**AN: I hope you all like this chapter! The title comes from a Rolling Stones song. It came from The Departed, best movie ever. This chapter I think everyone will like because Mac is redeeming himself from what he pulled at the end of the last chapter. Anyways enjoy the chapter and make sure you review when you're done!**

**Chapter 14**

It was a Friday and practice had just ended. The guys were pretty excited that they didn't have a game that night because they hadn't partied a lot since Expedition season had begun only a couple weeks earlier.

"So Mac, you gonna get laid tonight?" Phil laughed as he put of his shirt.

"I don't know maybe," Mac laughed with him.

"Are you gonna hook up with Jamie? Because she's pretty hot man," Bah joined in.

"No!" Mac answered, "I'm over her. Besides we're going to the Omega Nu party and she's not allowed there ever since what happened in '78."

"Man, what happened in '78 again?" Buzz joked, he already knew and was there when it happened.

"Yeah didn't she throw like a chair out of closed window?" Pav questioned.

"Yeah man, she was drunk or something. I don't know," Mac laughed.

"But other than that she's hot," Jannie added.

"Yeah," some of the guys agreed.

Mark looked over at OC and was surprised that he didn't have some sort of smug look on his face. He didn't respond to anything in their conversation at all.

'Maybe he didn't sleep with her after all' Mark thought to himself.

"Dude, has anybody seen Conway? My shoulder kills..."Morrow complained aloud.

"I don't know," Rizzo answered.

"I talked to her on Wednesday night and she said she was gonna come in yesterday. But she probably couldn't because of the rain," OC said.

"Yeah it rained hard out there," Ramsey seconded, "There was a flood in the basement laundry room of Westbrook Hall because of it."

Mac felt bad about making Annie walk home in the rain. He just wanted her to hate him and not talk to him at all because if they talked OC would have been pissed and they both would get kicked off the team. But lucky for him, she never ended up coming after practice to help the guys out. OC made up an excuse for her, telling Doc that she needed to see her grandfather. Everyone knew he was lying but he didn't think anything of it. He just assumed it was something to do with school.

That night Mac, Mark, and Bah went to P.J Kellehers before partying because Bah liked a girl and he wanted to know what the other guys thought of her and her friends. Mac insisted that they sit in Annie's section and they did. He then started to openly flirt with one of the friends named Linda.

"What can I get everyone?"

Mac looked up and was about to be the first to order when he saw that the waitress wasn't Annie. As the others ordered Mac scanned the bar for any sight of the tall redhead but had no luck.

"Mac..."

Mac heard a voice call out his name and he looked up at Linda, who was the one trying to get his attention.

"Wh..what?" he asked.

"Mac, do you want anything?" Linda asked.

"No thanks. I'm driving," Mac said, "Is Conway working tonight?"

The waitress looked a little confused, "Conway?...Ohhhh, you mean Annie! Yeah well she called in sick. My guess is that she got caught in that storm yesterday. I was the one that picked up the phone and she sounded terrible."

The waitress then left to get the drinks and the three girls went to the bathroom. Mark and Bah immediately asked what was going on with Mac.

"Why'd you ask for Conway?" Bah asked.

"Yeah, we all thought you hated her..." Mark seconded.

"I do!" Mac quickly defended, "I just thought this was her section and was wondering where she was...thats all."

"Whatever you say," Mark said under his breath.

The three girls came back a minute later and you could tell that they had refreshed their make up and had a tic tac. The group, with the exception of Mac, had their pre-party drinks and was ready to go. Mac and Linda had been flirting the entire night, even though he felt so guilty for getting Annie sick. The six walked out of the bar and was walking to their different cars.

"So Mac, do you live on campus or do you have your own apartment?" an already drunk Linda asked.

Mac could smell the alcohol in her breath. Linda's friend who was with Bah shrugged, "Not again Linda! She always gets drunk. If she has like two beers she's doing karaoke!"

"I don't want to have to take her home...again!" her other friend complained.

"I'll do it!" Mac offered.

"Dude, are you sure?" Bah asked, a little skeptical.

"Yeah. The parties there usually don't get good until like eleven thirty anyways," Mac insisted.

"Alright"

"Thanks Mac. You're the best!"

The remaining four got into their cars and went to the party. Mac got Linda home ok but instead of going to the party, he decided to give Annie a visit first. Her building was right next to Linda's so he walked over and found out from a girl that her room was on the fourth floor.

He went up to her floor, which was almost deserted. Mac knew it was because everyone was at parties. Mac continued down the hallway and the only thing he could hear was music being played very loudly from one of the rooms, and the door was open. He walked by it covering his ears but looked inside and saw Annie under her covers and her roommate and one of her friends dancing along with the music.

Mac went into the room and could tell Annie was just trying to sleep. The two other girls didn't notice him come in. He angrily walked over to the record player and turned it off.. The two girls looked up.

"Hey man! What the hell is your problem?" Joy asked.

"Me? Can't you see that Conway's sick!" Mac fought back.

"So? It's not our fault," her friend defended.

"It's your fault that she's not getting better! Get lost," Mac yelled.

"You can't come in here..and tell us...what to do!" a drunk Joy yelled back.

"Yeah," he friend agreed.

"What is it with girls unable to hold their liquor?" Mac complained aloud.

Annie heard the whole fight from under her covers. She was in a state of half asleep and half awake so she really couldn't get involved or have the strength to want to get involved. She heard Mac sigh and footsteps walk over to her.

"C'mon I'm getting you out of here," Mac whispered to her.

Annie turned over and removed her head from under the covers. He immediately put his hand on her forehead.

"You're really hot," he stated removing his hand.

Annie wanted to say a nice joke back but her throat was so dry that it hurt for her to speak. She just nodded instead.

"Do you think you'll be able to get up?" Mac asked.

Annie laughed to herself. If she was able to she would've done it an hour ago when her roommate and her friend had first come in. She shook her head and waited for a response from Mac. Mac stared at her for a moment and thought of something.

"I'm not leaving you alone here with these two"

Mac then scooped her up along with her comforter and gently carried her out of her dorm room. Annie put her arms around his neck and scrunched her head in. Mac put his chin on her temple. He carried her all the way to his car and put her in the back seat.

"You're grandfather's house is off Woodbridge right?" he asked.

Annie nodded and made a 'uh-huh' noise. Mac then closed the door and got into the front seat. He drove as quickly as he could to her house. When he got there, he looked for a spare key to let him inside and found one under the mat. After unlocking the door and turning on a few lights he got Annie from the car and got her inside. He gently placed Annie on the couch in the living room.

"Water..." she said softly.

Mac nodded and went into the kitchen to get some water. He came back and she proceeded to drink the whole glass.

"Woah, you were thirsty," Mac pointed out.

Annie nodded and her voice became more clearer, "Yeah."

"Do you want any Advil or anything?" he asked.

"I don't have anything," she explained.

"Ok..uhmmm...don't move! I'll be right back!" he said right before speeding off.

She heard him open and close the door and the car drive away. He came back to the house about fifteen minutes later. He quickly ran into the house with a plastic bag full of stuff. She sat up and looked at him pour the bag out on the coffee table. It had lots of medicines and things.

"I went to the drug store and I wasn't sure what worked so I just bought everything," he said pointing to all the Tylenol and Advil type medicines. And then he took out a smaller plastic bag and took out a gallon of orange juice.

"I got some orange juice because it's full of vitamins and stuff and my mom used to give it to me all the time when I was sick," he explained handing her the gallon.

She poured some into her empty water glass and drank it all. She continued doing this a few more times and the last time she had two Tylenol to go with it. Mac was there the whole time and when she was dozing off into sleep she saw him still there.

Her fever broke early the next morning. She woke up around sixish and found Mac asleep on the chair next to her, using his jacket as a blanket. Flashes from the previous night had come back to her and she remembered what he did. Him helping her out was the nicest thing anybody had ever done for her, or could ever for her. And she didn't even thank him. Annie knew that she was half dead that night and probably didn't know what was going on.

The redhead turned to face him again. She got up and walked over to him. She gently placed her hand on his right shoulder but that instantly woke him up.

"Wha..." he groggily asked.

He opened his eyes and saw a faint look of Annie. He rubbed his eyes again and still saw her.

"Hi," he said awkwardly.

"Hi," she smiled.

Mac frantically looked around and realized he was still at Annie's grandfather's house. He must've fallen asleep as he watched her sleep making sure she was ok, "What time is it?"

"A little past six," she answered.

"Shit. I've gotta go," he said quickly getting up.

"Wait!" she called out for him.

He turned around and she walked over to him.

"Thank you so much for last night. No one's ever done that for me before. I'm all better now and it's because of you," she thanked.

"You would've been alright. You probably just got the twenty four hour flu thing. I get that sometimes too," he told her, trying to brush her off.

He was really happy to help her out but that took away from his plan for her to hate him. If they kept talking OC was sure to find out.

"I know," she smiled, "But thanks."

"I'm sorry about Thursday. I was being an ass," he told her.

"It's ok. I've walked home in the rain before, remember?"

"But I've given you lifts before, remember?"

Mac wanted to leave at this point. He had a lot of explaining to do when he got back to his apartment. Bah and Mark must've thought that he nailed Linda or something.

"I should go. I'm glad you're better," Mac told her.

He turned and was walking away when Annie said, "Don't worry. I won't tell OC or anybody."

Mac turned to face her again, "Thanks."

She took her hand out to shake his hand, sort of like the peace agreement, "Friends?"

Mac sighed and shook his head, "That's the one thing I can't do."

Annie looked to her feet sort of embarrassed by the rejection but knew full on what he meant, "I understand."

"I'll see you around Conway"

**Redemption is pretty sweet huh? I hope you liked the chapter. Please review!**


	15. Break On Through

**Meadow567: Thanks for the review :)**

**miracle fan 9245: Thanks for reviewing!**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the review and I'm glad you liked Mac's redemption. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Neonnbible: Thanks for reviewing. And I think we all want a guy like Mac :) **

**AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it really meant a lot. I hope you like this chapter. It's named after a song from The Doors. Anyways, since it's a long weekend I'm going to post my next chapter on Monday. I wrote this one and the next one as one big chapter but it turned out to be almost 14 pages! So I had to cut it into two chapters. Anyways, enjoy and review when you're done :)**

**Chapter 15**

The next few days after getting better, Annie wanted nothing better but to forget about what happened between she and Mac. She started growing a bit of anger towards OC because of this. Annie knew that he won't become friends with her because OC wouldn't have it. But she'd always tell herself that it was for the best that they don't become friendly and that if she really wanted to than she wouldn't have OC control her life. She was at such a crossroads about this matter that she couldn't wait until her classes that week just so she'd have more important things to worry about than some stupid boy.

"So OC tells me that you were pretty sick this weekend," Rachel whispered to her.

They were sitting in a silent lecture hall, where only the words of their Anatomy teacher could be heard. To get Annie from completely dozing off from this boring lecture, Rachel decided to get her talking.

"OC? When did you see OC this weekend?" Annie asked.

"I didn't. We talked on the phone," Rachel explained.

"You talk on the phone with OC?" Annie teased. She sensed that there was a weird thing going on between them but she had no idea what it was.

"No! He called me," Rachel defended.

"He called you!" Annie pretended to sound surprised.

"Shut up!" Rachel laughed.

At that point the two girls saw that their professor was looking directly at them as he continued his lesson, so they both kept quiet. Annie quickly went back to being bored so she looked over at a cute guy in her class named Tom. Ever since August she wanted to talk to him but she didn't even know what to say. He started to turn his eyes towards her on a couple occasions after she got her hair cut and stuff. While she looked at him he looked up and their eyes were locked for a split second until an embarrassed Annie put her head down and pretended to take notes instead.

Once the class ended Annie quickly got her material packed so she could arrive on time at the arena. When she walked out the door she saw Tom waiting outside. She avoided is sight as she kept walking but instead of avoiding her, he called out to her too.

"Hey, wait up!"

Annie turned around and saw him jog over to her.

"Hey, I'm Tom"

"I'm Con...Annie," she awkwardly smiled back.

"I've noticed you in my anatomy class for a while...and well I don't do this very often but...do you wanna go out sometime?"

"YES!" Annie exclaimed, "I mean...yeah that sounds cool."

"Are you free tomorrow night?" he asked.

"No I'm sorry. I gotta work. I'm free Wednesday though," she told him.

"Cool, it's a date"

"It's a date."

As soon as Tom and Annie went their separate ways, Annie ran off to find Rachel. The blonde was still there talking to a few other girls who were in their class, probably getting their notes. Annie rushed over to her right when she saw her.

"Hey! Hey! Guess what!" Annie was so excited she started to jump up and down.

Rachel joined her, either making fun of her or truly caring about the excitement nobody could tell, "What? What?"

"TOM ASKED ME OUT!" Annie gleamed.

"No way!"

"Way!"

"I am so helping you get ready for this date!" Rachel said.

"You better!" Annie replied, "But I've gotta run. I'll see you tonight at the bar."

"Bye"

"Bye"

Conway arrived on time to the arena and still had a grin that was a mile long on her freckled face. She walked into the locker room with a big smile and a very upbeat attitude that was unlike the Conway they all knew.

"So Conway, when is your next night off?" OC asked, trying to get her back to her normal self by complaining about work.

"Wednesday," Conway answered happily.

"Oh sweet, we have a game that night in Rochester. Do you wanna go?" Rizzo joined in.

"No. I can't. I'm busy," she told him.

"With what? You just said you didn't have work!" OC said.

"It's not work," Annie grinned, "I have a date that night."

The locker room was dead silent for a split second. Then all the guys, with the exception of Mac, started to crack up and couldn't stop laughing for a couple minutes.

"What?" she was annoyed.

"You..." OC laughed, "...on a date."

"Yeah," she nodded seriously, "I'm going on a date."

"Good one," OC was all done laughing, as well as many of the other guys, "So seriously where are you going?"

"I'm going on a date," she said to him slowly.

"With a guy?" he asked.

"No with an inanimate object. Yes with a guy," she sarcastically answered.

"Who?"

"A guy in my Anatomy class. His name is Tom," she told him.

"What time is your date?" OC interrogated.

"I don't know yet. Probably like eight or something," she rolled her eyes.

"Well we get back from Rochester at eight thirty. You can come with us and still go on your date," the blonde Bostonian offered.

"I can't go. I have to get ready first," the redhead explained.

"Ready for what?" he asked, getting angry.

"For my date!" she exclaimed, "I have a date on Wednesday!"

"What's there to get ready for?"

Annie just shrugged, "Oh never mind. Guys are so stupid!"

She was all done with helping the guys anyways so she just took the liberty and left.

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"So Conway finally found a guy, huh?" Bah laughed.

Bah was in shotgun with Mark driving and Mac in the backseat. They were all driving back to the apartment they shared.

"Yeah, that's pretty weird though. She didn't really seem the type," Mark added.

Bah looked in his rear view mirror and saw that Mac didn't seem too thrilled, "What do you think about it, Mac?"

"Huh?" Mac lost his train of thought, "Oh, I don't really care about it. It's her life, she can do what she wants."

"Yeah," Mark agreed, a little skeptical if that was Mac's true feelings or not.

"It just seems a little weird that she never mentioned him before in the locker room or anything," Mac pointed out.

"She probably knew we'd all be laughing at her, like we just did," Bah guessed.

"Maybe," Mac said, "It's just sort of weird that she'll miss a game for the date."

"She didn't even know about the game until OC told her," Mark said.

"Still..." Mac tried.

"What?" Bah asked.

"Never mind," Mac didn't want to get into it anymore.

The rest of the drive home was in silence.

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That night OC and a bunch of the guys came into the bar. Annie didn't want to see them. She was sort of mad that they had all laughed at her when she told them that she was going on a date.

'Am I really that much of a tomboy?' she began to question herself.

And to her misfortune they all sat in her section, probably to make fun of her more or something. She went up to the bar, where her boss to get a new section for that night.

"Please! I'd rather be sexually harassed by Andrew and his loser friends than serve those guys tonight," she pleaded.

Then a waitress who was serving that section came up to the bar to get some orders. She had overheard the entire thing and was more than willing to switch sections. Her boss reluctantly agreed.

"Thank you," both of the waitresses said in unison.

Three hours later when her shift was over, Annie went outside to begin her walk home and was surprised to find OC sitting on his car hood waiting for her.

"Hi," she greeted unemotionally.

"Hey. Why didn't you serve us tonight?" he asked.

"Because I was switched to a different section," Annie responded.

"Our waitress told us that you offered to switch," OC said.

"Well she was right," Annie told him.

"Why did want to switch?"

"Why?" she laughed, "Because you guys were being asses this afternoon. I told you all that I was going on a date and you guys just made fun of me!"

"So? You never go on dates. It just seemed so out of character of you. Have you ever been on a date?" he joked around more.

"OC your _supposed _to be my best friend. You know I've been on a date before!"

"Sure," he sniggered.

"Can you please stop? I really like this guy..."

"Just because you like someone doesn't mean you have to miss your best friend's hockey game!"

"Your seriously on this again!" she was frustrated, "I've seen you play hockey a billion times. Missing one game won't kill you!"

"It's your job!" OC tried before Annie cut him off.

"No, it's my job to go to home games and the Olympics, that's it. Now, I'm sorry that my life doesn't revolve around you for once but I'm going on this date whether you like it or not!"

She was so mad at OC she just left him and began walking home. He didn't bother following her or anything because he was pretty pissed off. As she was walking she bumped right into someone, she didn't even see coming.

"Sorry...oh hi," her voice turned when she saw who it was. Mac.

"Hey, sorry 'bout that," he apologized.

"Are you going to bug me about my date too?" she jumped to conclusions.

"No!" he defended himself, "I forgot my wallet so I came back. And it's a nice night so I walked."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, "Even if you did come to make fun of me or tell me not to go I wouldn't of listened because we're not friends anyways."

She then kept walking forward and Mac turned to watch her leave. She seemed really mad that everyone made fun of her and after seeing OC's car leave shortly after she left, Mac came to the conclusion that OC only made it worse. He didn't want her to go on the date, but probably for a different reason than OC.

He was pretty much right about OC and Annie since they didn't talk in the locker room for the next two days.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The date was going really well. Tom seemed like a pretty cool guy and he even grew up in Providence, less than an hour away from Boston. The two were definitely hitting it off.

"I can't believe you were scared of that movie!" Tom laughed.

"Are you kidding me? After seeing Psycho I was afraid to go into the shower for like a week," Annie joked.

Annie then got up, "I'll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom."

When Annie was brushing up her make up in the bathroom, she smiled at her appearance in the mirror. Rachel did a great job with her hair and make up. She never thought in a million years that she would ever look that good. She reapplied her lip gloss and giggled at the thought that she and Tom might actually go out, she liked this guy a lot.

Annie came back from the bathroom and saw that Tom was no longer at the table. She just guessed that he was in the bathroom and sat down to wait for him. Five minutes had passed and he still hadn't returned, Annie was getting anxious.

'Did he stand me up? He couldn't of. We were getting along so well!' the redhead thought to herself.

She sat waiting for another ten minutes until she realized that he wasn't coming back. Annie felt so stupid and humiliated. She just wanted cry right there and then because she knew that nothing else could make the night any worse. But she held back her tears once she realized that she needed to get home. Annie always held some extra money just in case something bad happened and paid for the meal. She then went to the pay phone to see if she could get a ride home.

"Hey OC...I was, can you pick me up...just please pick me up, I'll tell you everything in the car...No he didn't try to get me to go to bed with him...well he didn't...ok...I'm at The Blue Lagoon restaurant...Thanks I'll see you in fifteen minutes..."

The car ride home was mostly silent. OC didn't know what to say and Annie didn't want to explain herself. Finally when she got home, OC stopped her from getting out of the car.

"Conway, what happened tonight?" he asked.

"Nothing," she lied.

"Obviously something happened, if not then you wouldn't of..."

"HE LEFT! OK, HE LEFT!" she burst into tears.

"What?" he was shocked.

"I don't even know. Everything was going great and I left for the bathroom and when I came back...he was gone...And I just waited there like an idiot for like fifteen minutes hoping that he might come back..." she continued to cry.

OC hugged her to try to calm her down and Annie cried on her shoulder. She calmed down a couple minutes later and wiped the tears from her face.

"Thanks for everything, OC. Your the best best friend I could ever ask for," she tried to smile.

"Anytime," he nodded.

"Seriously, I'm so sorry for before. I just never thought that..."

"It's ok."

"Ok...Tell the guys and I'll kill you," were the last words she said before she got out of the car.

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The next day, Annie saw Tom in the class. She didn't even look at him but instead paid close attention to the professor or talked to Rachel. She told Rachel the whole story about the date and she seemed very pissed off. After class Rachel angrily walked over to Tom to find out why he left Annie.

"What's your problem?" she asked.

Annie followed close behind but didn't get involved. She just put her head down, avoiding eye contact.

"It's not my fault about last night..." he tried.

"Well your the one that left, man. So it pretty much is your fault!" Rachel was angry.

"No it's not! Some guy came in and basically threatened to kick my ass if I didn't leave right then and there..." he explained.

Annie immediately picked her head up, "Who?"

"Jack O' something..."

**How did you like it?**


	16. Don't Do Me Like That

**Maraudermarshall: Thanks for reviewing. Glad your liking the story so far! Hope you like this chapter.**

**Meadow567: Glad you liked the chapter! Thanks for the review :) Hope you enjoy the new chapter.**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for reviewing. I'm happy you liked the twist ending lol, I knew it would be the perfect ending haha.**

**Jenny: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like my story so far. I hope you like this new chapter, and trust me Annie will get her revenge ;)**

**AN: Wow, I'm so happy about all the reviews you gave me you have no idea. Thank you so much. I really hope you like this next chapter. The name comes from a Tom Petty song. Thanks again for all the nice reviews and please make sure to review after this chapter too!**

**Chapter 16**

"Jack O' something..."

"O'Callahan?" Annie gasped.

"That's it!" Tom exclaimed, "Jack O'Callahan. While you were in the bathroom he came into the restaurant and said if I didn't leave he'd kick my ass...I didn't want to start a scene in the nice restaurant so I left."

Annie couldn't believe it. Her best friend stabbed her in the back. He's never done that before. She really needed to cool off because she was so upset and angry.

"I've gotta go," she said softly before quickly leaving the building.

What went from a walk to the arena turned into a jog which then turned to a full on sprint. Thinking about all the events of that previous night made her so infuriated with Jack. And she was so prepared to tell him off in right there in the locker room. She fiercely pushed open the doors and she was so mad at that point her face was all red and it seemed like steam would come out of her ears any second from now.

"JACK O'CALLAHAN, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she screamed the second she saw him.

"What's wrong?" OC stood up to face her, by the yelling he knew that she was mad but calling him Jack she must've been very very pissed.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Your what's wrong, Jack," she clenched her teeth as she said his name, "You ruined my date!"

OC didn't really know what to say. He wasn't very sorry about doing it, "Yeah. I know..."

Just saying that made her even madder, which was very hard to do, "Is that all you've gotta say?" her voice was getting madder with each and every word. The locker room was in complete silence starring at the two and what would happen next.

"I'm not sorry about it, if that's what you want me to say," OC said unemotionally.

Annie was flabbergasted. She seemed like she was in the brink of tears by that point. She walked right up to him and slapped him on the face, hard like the kind that would leave a sting afterwards.

"How could you? I trusted you!" she began to push him as hard as she could, which wasn't very hard but still hard enough, "Do you care about me at all?"

OC held her hands together in one of his so she couldn't push him anymore, "That's why I did it. I knew that guy wasn't good enough for you!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW HIM!" she screamed, getting out of his grasp, "Your a lying son of a bitch you know that!" she began to tear up a bit, "I cried on _your_ shoulder and you didn't say anything. You made me feel bad for being mad at you. And you ruined my date all along! You backstabbing asshole!"

"Con..."

"NO!" she screamed on the top of her lungs, "LET ME FUCKING FINISH!...You betrayed me. I'd trust you with my life and you betrayed me like that! And you know what. I'm gonna back stab you too."

Annie then turned to Mac. Her face was stained with teardrops, "Hey Mac. Remember that night that you scored the winning goal and you all went to the party. Well, OC scored that night also. He did your ex-girlfriend, Jamie whats-her-name."

Mac didn't say anything. He didn't even know what to think. He really hated Jamie but it still made him a little pissed that OC slept with her. But then again Jamie was a whore so she'd sleep with just about anyone.

"You know what OC, I hope I never have to see your ugly face ever again!" she screamed before rushing out of the locker room.

The guys watched the entire outburst in silence. They didn't say anything after Conway left because their was still so much tension going on in the room and everybody could feel it. Mac was one of the first guys to leave and he didn't even look at anybody in the eye, still unsure of how to feel.

Annie walked slowly back to her dorm room. She was so tired from yelling and sprinting to the arena to go any faster. Thinking about everything that had happened put a tear in her eye. She'd been crying a lot in the past twenty four hours, and she wasn't even a crier. She put her head down and kept on walking.

A couple minutes later she heard a car pass by. The first car she saw pass by for the entire walk. The car slowed down when it got closer to Conway, which made her a little nervous. But as soon as she saw the make of the car she knew who's car it was-Mac's.

"Need a ride?" he asked through an open window.

"Sure," Annie nodded.

Annie got in shot gun and the first minute was in complete silence. Annie felt bad about embarrassing Mac in the locker room like that but she was just so angry at OC that everything came out.

"Sorry about telling you that in front of everybody," she said quietly.

"Yeah, well I knew she was a slut. That night I saw her flirt with him but then I came so I thought that she left him alone. Guess I was wrong..."

"Well we've both been wrong about a lot of things. You were wrong to go out with Jamie, I was wrong to become best friends with OC. I guess we just try to give people the benefit of the doubt that they don't deserve," she sighed looking out the window.

"That's not true. You've been best friends with OC all your life-"

"Only since ninth grade at BLS," she interrupted.

"Still you two have been best friends for a long time. One fight won't change that. Jamie and I went out on and off for a year and to be honest I don't think we were very happy together," he said.

"But OC has never done anything this bad before. He's been acting weird for a couple of weeks now but seriously what he did was so low. I don't know when I can forgive him again," she told him.

"You don't know when but you still will," he replied.

Annie didn't respond and the next five minutes to her dorm was in an awkward silence.

"Thanks," she said as she opened the car door.

"I'll see you around Conway"

Annie sighed when he said that. He said that to her when he left after she got sick and it really pissed her off that they couldn't even talk because of OC. Annie slammed the door shut with her still inside the car.

"We're friends," she said sternly.

"But-"

"No, we are friends. WE will have conversations in the locker room and at the bar and wherever the hell we damn please. OC thinks he can control everyones lives and he is sadly mistaken. I can talk to and hang out with whoever I want, wherever I want, and whenever I want," she said.

"I don't want to cause more problems with you and OC," Mac said.

"OC has caused enough problems, you won't make it worse. And who's OC to say anything. YOU were the one who helped me when I was sick, not him!"

"Because it was my fault that you got sick! I felt bad..." he tried.

"Yeah, but you took care of me so I'd become better again. That's all the matters"

She took out her hand to shake for friendship, like she had down the day after she got sick. But Mac didn't shake it. Instead he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him and kissed her on the lips. Annie kissed back for a brief second until she realized what she was doing. She then backed off into the other side of the car.

"I've gotta..."

Annie then rushed out of the car and slammed the door behind her. She ran all the way to her building. Mac couldn't believe what he did either. Humiliated and confused he rested his head on the steering wheel.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Later that night OC went to the bar where Annie worked at, hoping she'd be cooled off enough to talk. But as soon as he walked in he scanned the restaurant and saw that she wasn't there.

'Probably taking the night off'

OC walked over to the table that Silky was sitting at, waiting for the rest of the team to show up. Over the next couple of minutes the hockey players started coming in but ignored OC all together and sat at a different table at the other end of the bar.

"What's their problem?" OC asked, pouring himself more beer from the pitcher.

"Who knows," Silk shrugged, "Probably mad about you sleeping with Jamie. I don't see what the big deal is though. They were broken up."

"I know. And she wasn't even good," OC complained.

Silk laughed at his remark and took another sip of beer, "But seriously, did you know that she was his ex?"

"Why do you think I did it?" OC joked.

"Cheers to that!" Silk bumped his mug into OC's.

"Man, I just wish Conway wasn't so pissed," OC said.

"Yeah well thats just a chick thing. She'll get over it before you know it," Silky reassured.

"She's been doing that sort of thing a lot," OC pointed out, "The whole chick thing. It's sorta annoying actually."

"Yeah," Silky wanted to change the subject but OC jumped in again.

"I think I might apologize to her tomorrow. This is ridiculous. She's not even at work!" OC looked around the bar again just to make sure.

"I know. That hot waitress Wendy told me," Silk gave a smug look.

Silky pointed to a waitress, who was a couple of tables down, and OC checked her out.

"Nice"

Just then Rachel walked in with a few of her girlfriends. OC checked her out as she walked by, avoiding him. OC turned to Silk.

"Good luck man," Silky laughed.

OC took one last swig of beer and went over to Rachel's table.

"Hey"

Rachel just ignored him and kept on talking to her friends. OC tried to talk to her again.

"Hi Rach"

This time Rachel looked up at him and gave him a cold stare, "Don't talk to me."

"What? Why?"

"I mean it! You talk to me again and I'll kick your ass," Rachel threatened trying to sound like OC from the night before.

"Unbelievable," OC muttered before leaving.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Annie took the previous night off to start a paper but it wasn't any success. She couldn't stop thinking about the kiss she shared with Mac, and how she kissed him back. After he helped her get better, she started to feel funny about him. She never felt that way about someone, not even Tom, and she didn't even know how she felt. One minute she just wanted him to drop dead and the next she just wanted to talk with him and laugh with him. Lately when she saw him she got butterflies in her stomach and she didn't know why.

'Could I be having feelings for Mac?' she'd ask herself.

But she couldn't. Everyone thinks that they hate each other. And sometimes they actually do. But then why would she kiss him back? She reflected back on the kiss. It was a great kiss. It was only for a second but to her it felt like an eternity. She thought about his face.

'God he's hot'

Annie immediately stopped what she was thinking a mentally kicked herself. She couldn't think that. She's a tomboy. OC's best friend. Even though they weren't on speaking terms she could never do that to somebody she cared about, even if in fact he did do that to her.

'But he did that to me too.'

If...if she got with Mac, it wouldn't hurt anybody. It's not ruining anyone's date or hurting anyone's feelings. But why would she think about going out with Mac?

'Shit...I like Mac'

All those thoughts were in her mind and kept her up tossing and turning all night long. At around seven the next morning, with maybe only an hour or two of sleep, there was a knock on the door. She took a deep breath and answered the door only to see OC standing in her doorway so early on a Friday morning.

"Hi"

"Hi"

She looked into his eyes and all her thoughts from last night rushed into her mind. She couldn't date Mac, it would kill him. But it would kill her to ignore _her own_ feelings. Annie knew that in order to get anywhere with Mac she'd have to forgive OC, otherwise she'd think she was a hypocrite or only doing it to get back at OC, which she wasn't.

"Can I come in? I really need to talk to you," OC pleaded.

"Ok," Annie opened the door a bit wider to let him in.

OC was about to enter when Annie held him back, but instead of pushing him she greeted him with an embrace. She wasn't sure what she was doing but after thinking about it, she came to realize that it was because she felt guilty of kissing Mac, someone that he hated the most. But no matter what, she was never going to let him ruin her personal life again, even if it hurt him...

**So what did you think about it? Please review :) My new chapter should hopefully be up later this week. I'm not totally sure because I have to go to my sister's graduation and a ton of family is coming over but I'm aiming for Saturday afternoon.**


	17. Prank Wars

**miracle fan 9245: Glad you liked it! Thanks for the review :) **

**maraudermarshall: Thanks for the review! I think you'll like this chapter both Mac/Annie (awkwardness yes!) and OC/Annie, and trust me OC and Annie are nothing more than friends :)**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for reviewing :) You'll like this chapter Mac and Annie wise, well the parts that aren't awkward haha. And your pretty much right about the Annie and OC stuff. It's gonna take a long time before she truly forgives him.**

**AN: I'm so sorry to all my readers for making you wait so long for my chapter. My past two weeks have been crazy. Last weekend was my sister's graduation, SAT 2s and a final. And this weekend I've been studying for all my other finals! It's been so hectic. But I finally got this chapter up. I hope you all like it :) Please review when your done.**

**Chapter 17**

"Hey OC, you talk to Conway yet?" Silk asked as the team was getting ready for practice.

It was the Monday after the fight and the team still didn't know if they had made up yet. OC and Conway talked for a really long time at her house when he came over. After talking for about four hours, Annie reluctantly agreed to give him a second chance but he knew that he need to redeem himself so that she could trust him again.

"Yeah. I went over her house on Saturday. I think everything is gonna be ok," he told the team.

The guys were all relieved. If they hadn't made up, it would have been very awkward for her to work with the team, especially after her little meltdown.

"But don't bring up what happened here on Friday!" he warned them, "It's best that she just forget about it."

The team all nodded fully understanding, but Mac was sort of mad. He was really happy that Annie forgave OC but it seemed sort of forced. The last time he saw her she was in no mood to even hear his name never mind have an actual conversation with him. Mac could probably think about it more but he had to begin another long practice.

After practice was over all the guys wearily came into the locker room. Everything seemed pretty normal until OC saw his locker.

"What the hell?" he angrily asked.

There was a magazine cut out of some male model in a swimsuit taped to the front of his locker. All the guys saw it and immediately cracked up.

"So is that your boyfriend, OC?" Silky laughed.

OC fake laughed back and tore off the picture, only to find another picture of a male model but in this one he is modeling underwear. He tore off that and got another picture, which he tore off again. He did this another couple of times until there was nothing left. The team was laughing through it the entire time.

The guys still kept joking around about it in the showers and when they came back, there were more pictures taped in front of OC's locker. All the guys cracked up again. Now OC was furious.

"What is this?"

OC tore of the pictures taped to his locker and threw them all away. After the guys all got dressed Annie came in.

"Hey OC. Did you like the pictures?" Annie laughed.

"That was you!" OC was shell shocked.

"Yeah," she giggled, "I saw those pictures in a magazine and then I thought that we hadn't had a prank war in the longest time..."

"Oh it's on," OC jokingly pretended to sound intimidating.

"Let the best pranker win," she pretended to sound intimidating back.

They then briefly shook on it and Annie asked the guys if they had any sore muscles or anything. While doing this she avoided Robbie and didn't even look at him. After giving a few back massages she left with Rizzo and OC.

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That night a bunch of the guys went to the bar. OC had a plan to prank Annie and they all wanted to see if it would work or not. They were all walking in when they saw a small group of guys coming out. Some of the guys knew them and they started talking bumped into each other.

"Hey Baker, hey Rammer. What's going on?" the leader of the group greeted.

"Hey Andrew. Not too much. Is it crowded in there tonight?" Ramsey asked.

"Not really. Dude, do you know who that hot waitress is? The one with the red hair..." Andrew described.

"Annie?" Mac spoke up.

Some of the guys, including OC, gave Mac a dirty look. 'Did he think that Conway was hot?'

"Yeah her. Dude, she is so hot. I think she's into me," Andrew sounded cocky.

"Not really," one of his friends said.

"Yeah, but she will be."

Just then Annie walked out of the bar looking rather annoyed. She walked right up to Andrew ignoring all her friends who were in the crowd, "Hey you forgot to pay..."

Andrew jokingly shrugged, "I thought we went over this. I saved your life so we get free beers!"

"You did not save my life!" she exclaimed quickly, "That always happens. Besides if I did get killed it would have been your fault because you distracted me!"

Andrew laughed, "She admits it! I DID save your life!"

"No you didn't! Just give me the money for the bill," Annie tried.

Andrew shrugged. All of her friends were there and he knew that a bunch of them could probably kick his ass. He took out his wallet. He paid the bill and left with his friends.

"God those guys are such jerks," she complained, "Why are you all friends with them?"

Annie walked back into the bar before the guys came in. OC seemed to be sort of pissed at Andrew but he didn't want to do anything especially since the last time he did something like that Conway got mad. But he just shrugged it off and walked in the bar with a few of his teammates. In the last group of guys who were following behind was were Mac was. He watched Andrew and his friends go and made sure they left so they wouldn't cause anymore problems.

"Dude, you coming?" Verchota poked Mac's arm.

"Yeah...right behind you"

Annie continued working for a little while until she got her break. Then she sat with all the guys and sat between Rizzo and OC.

"Hey," she greeted them.

"Hey, what was earlier about?" OC asked.

"Long story," she shrugged. This meant that she didn't want to tell them so he just laid off the subject all together.

"So I finally thought of something to get back at you," OC smiled coyly.

"Oh yeah, what?" she chuckled, taking a sip from her beer.

"You'll see," he laughed.

Once Conway finished taking a sip she replied, "I bet."

She but the bottle on the table and tried to let go, only her hand wouldn't move. There was crazy glue on the bottle! Her hand was stuck! OC and all the guys cracked up as they watched her try to remove the bottle from her hand.

"OC, you suck!" she half laughed and was half serious still trying to pull it off. She then got up to ask her boss for help.

It took a while before the bottle was able to be taken out of her hand. Her boss had to yank it off causing incredible pain and most of the skin on her hand to peel off. She wrapped a bandage around her wounded hand, had some Tylenol and got back to work.

She came from the Employee section back to the bar and was fully ready to threaten OC, telling him to "be afraid" of her next prank, but he was already gone. In fact the team was all gone, with the exception of Mark and Mac because they were waiting to pay the bill.

"Hey guys," she greeted when she got to the cash register.

They both saw her hand as she was opening the register and were a little grossed out.

"Is your hand gonna be ok?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, once the skin grows back! Most of my skin peeled off," she sounded more than pissed off.

"Well out with the old, in with the new!" Mac awkwardly laughed.

Mark and Annie both gave him a look. Annie just rolled her eyes.

"It's gonna be thirty-four fifty," she told them.

Mark looked for his wallet but realized he didn't have it, "I think I forgot my wallet in the car. I'll go get it."

Mark then left and it was only Mac and Annie. It would be the first time they were alone together since the kiss and both didn't really know what to do or say. They both just looked down but then Annie took a deep breath and began a conversation.

"Mac, we need to talk about what happened Friday..."

"What happened?" Mac played dumb.

"Come on, Mac. Please! We need to talk about you know..." she then whispered, "..the kiss"

"Oh".

"After you pay the bill, meet me in the back. Where the trash barrels are. You know where I'm talking about?" Annie asked.

"Yeah," Mac nodded, "We should talk."

Mark came in and they both paid the bill for the team. Mark was leaving the bar with Mac and they were both walking towards Mark's car.

"You know, I think I'm gonna walk home tonight," Mac said.

"Dude, it's like forty degrees right now," Mark told him.

"Yeah but I just wanna walk," Mac insisted.

"Whatever," Mark shrugged, "I'll see you later."

Mark walked to his car and drove away. Mac then went behind the bar, near the back door, and waited a minute before Annie came out.

"Hey," she smiled awkwardly.

"Hi," he nodded.

"Look about Friday," Annie got right into it, "Did you plan on kissing me or anything or did that just happen?"

"I don't know," he put his hands in his pockets, "I mean I didn't not want to. I thought about it, I guess."

"Yeah," she was a little confused, "When I kissed back I didn't know what I was doing. And I thought about it and I still don't know what to feel."

"I shouldn't have done anything. I think I got caught up in the moment or something," he lied and she could tell.

"Well I kissed you back," she said.

She walked closer to him and Mac didn't know if he should walk closer to her or just stay there, so he just stayed.

"Look, I'm gonna tell you this now because I don't want things to be weird or anything. And I completely understand if nothing happens or anything but I'm not the type to hide her feelings...I think that I might like you," she was straight forward.

Mac just starred at her for a moment. He sort of had feelings for her too. She was very pretty and funny and friendly. She was friends with his friends and they both loved hockey. She liked The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Pink Floyd...she wasn't afraid to let her feelings out or be brutally honest (which wasn't good in all cases). She was easy to talk to and he always heard her give advice to OC and sometimes Rizzo or Silk. One time he heard her talk to Jimmy because it was the anniversary of his mom's death and she just listened as he talked and didn't say anything and he liked that. He liked her.

"Yeah, I think I might like you too," he smiled awkwardly.

"Wow," Annie laughed, a little shocked, "Uhmmm what should we do now?"

"I don't know," Mac replied, laughing awkwardly with her, "We can't tell OC or anybody about this."

"Trust me, I know!" she exclaimed, "Whatever this is anyways"

"What is this?" Mac asked.

"I have no idea!" she laughed.

"We're not like officially dating or anything..."

"I know. We can't tell **anybody**," she stressed the anybody part.

"Of course not. It will be our little secret," he joked walking closer to her.

"Yeah," she giggled walking closer to him.

They walked until they were face to face with each other.

"What now?" Annie whispered.

Mac took the initiative and kissed her. This time, Annie kissed back. They just stood there kissing in the ally way for what seemed like an hour, but was only about a minute. It was cold and they both needed to go. Annie let go first.

"I've gotta get back to work," she half smiled.

"Yeah I should get home," he nodded.

"I'll...I'll see ya later then,"she awkwardly joked.

"Yeah see you later, Conway"

They both walked their separate ways wondering what the hell they both just got into. This was going to be complicated...

**What did you all think? Please review :)**


	18. Goodbye Party

**Neonnbible: Thanks for the review. And Mac and Annie part in this is sorta an awkward fight lol, but they'll get better.**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for reviewing! And good call on the awkwardness to come. There will be some lol, hope you like the next chapter.**

**Meadow567: Thanks for the review :)**

**AN: Here's my latest chapter. This is my second to last chapter I'm writing before I go away next month to camp. But after camp you can expect what happened last year, an update every three days until my school year begins. Anyways, I hope you enjoy :) Please review when your done.**

**Chapter 18**

A few weeks had passed since Mac and Conway got together. The prank wars were over, after Conway covered OC's clothes in itchy powder and OC pretended to break into her house, which led to a nice kick in his most sensitive area.

Mac and Conway were alright, though they didn't talk much. All they had was a few make out sessions and then awkward aftermaths. They were both pretty busy and didn't really have enough time for each other. Mac had practices and games, and he and the team were leaving for the European Expo in two days. Annie on the other hand had classes, her job at the bar, and tri-weekly visits to her grandfather, who was in a nursing home. The only time they really spent time with each other was after practice, during a home game, or at the bar. They knew it wasn't going to be easy but they never expected it to be this hard.

"Conway, what are those?" Bah asked as she saw her enter the locker room with a large pile of books in her hands.

"Books about Europe," she said, "I want you guys to see _some_ sites while your there."

"Ok mom," OC joked.

"I'm serious!" Conway laughed, "You guys are so lucky to be able to go to Europe. And you won't be playing games everyday. You could find some time to see the sites."

"Like what?" Rizzo asked.

"The Eiffel Tower!" Annie answered.

"I've seen pictures," Silk shrugged.

"So, you've never really experienced anything unless you've actually seen it or done it," Annie tried, "It's just a shame that I'm not going because you guys probably won't do anything anyways."

OC groaned, "Fine we'll go. But we won't like it!"

"Yeah," a lot of the guys seconded.

"God you guys are such children!" Conway joked, "You'd be stupid to pass this site seeing opportunity up!"

"Have you ever been to Europe?" Mac asked.

"No," Conway answered, "I've only been out of the country once."

"Canada '75," OC remembered.

"Yeah," Conway laughed, "Good times. I was grounded for six months for what happened."

"Didn't you sneak out of the house because your dad didn't let you go?" Silk remembered them talking about it once.

"Yeah," Annie laughed, "It was senior year in '75 and the hockey team was going to a tournament up in Montreal. But my dad didn't let me go so I snuck out and went anyways."

"Your a bad person, Conway," Bah joked.

"Shut up!"

Annie helped a few of the guys out and then left. When offered a ride, Annie decline saying that she wanted to walk off the huge breakfast she had. Instead of walking though, she went behind the rink to wait for Mac, who said he wanted to talk to her after practice. The redhead didn't wait too long until Mac came out.

"Hey," she greeted with a shy smile.

"Hey," Mac nodded.

The two shared a little kiss on the lips and then began to talk.

"What's up? What did you wanna talk about?" Annie asked.

"You know about the party on Thursday, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. Andrew kept annoying me about it," Annie shrugged, "Why?"

"Well are you going?" Mac questioned.

"Yeah Mac, it's my night off and Rachel is sorta forcing me to go...are you going?" Annie asked.

"Yeah. I'm going with all the guys," Mac replied, "Can't you get out of it?"

"No, if Rachel and OC and you are going why wouldn't I go?" Annie sounded a little pissed off.

"It's not like we're gonna be together! Nobody even knows about us. I'm gonna be talking with some girls just so you know," Mac said.

"And I'm gonna be flirting with some guys, just so you know," the redhead talked back.

"What? Why?" Mac's ego lowered a bit.

"You just said you were gonna flirt with some girls. I can flirt with guys," Annie responded.

"Yeah but it's different," the hockey player said.

"How's it different?"

"Because it just is. Why are you trying to act like a slut now?" Mac accused.

"What are you talking about?" Annie got more pissed than ever, "I didn't do anything. You're the one who's gonna flirt with other girls and because I said I'm going to flirt with other guys, I'm a slut! That's so stupid!"

"Well I know the idiots going to this party. They're going to be all over you!"

"Oh I can handle Andrew! Jeez...it's like you don't trust me at all!"

"I trust you just fine. It's him I don't trust!" he tried.

"I can take care of myself! I know Andrew is an asshole but I won't even talk to him. What do you have against him anyways?"

"Nothing," Mac shrugged, "Whatever, I have to go."

Mac turned and began to walk away. Then Conway called to him, "Well aren't you going to offer me a ride?"

"No! You just said you can take care of yourself!"

"Fine by me! Your car smells bad anyways!" she yelled back and began walking the opposite way.

Mac let out a deep sigh, "Conway, where are you going?"

"Home," she told him as she kept walking.

"Do you want a ride?" he shrugged.

"NO!"

"You wanted one before!"

Annie stopped walking, turned around, and angrily walked back to Mac.

"Yeah but you're just being a complete asshole right now and I don't wanna talk to you! And plus like two seconds ago you said you didn't wanna give me a ride..."

"Look I'm sorry, alright? I just didn't think you'd go to the party."

"I don't really wanna go but I'm going for Rachel," she explained, "Why are you being so stupid about this? Seriously, we're not gonna be hanging out because like you said nobody knows about us anyways."

"I know. Just don't hang out with Andrew, ok? You promise?" Mac tried.

"I wasn't going to hang out with him anyways. I hate that guy!" she laughed, "Just promise not to flirt with too many slutty girls..."

"Promise," he smiled.

The two kissed.

"Wanna ride home?"

"Yeah," she laughed, "God we're so bipolar..."

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**Thursday**

Annie and Rachel got ready for the party at Annie's grandfather's house. They were both pretty excited about going. For Annie it was spending some time with OC and her friends before they left for their two week European Expo.

"God, Jack's such a loser...we broke up last night," Rachel sighed.

Annie rolled her eyes and giggled to herself. Rachel and OC had the weirdest type of relationship. They were always fighting and when they weren't they just joked and bantered in their own way, which seemed like some foreign language that only they could understand. And they've broken up twice...a day, since they first meet.

"Well, you guys will probably hook up at the party," Annie said, "But do it after I leave. I don't want to see you two all over each other!"

"Sure," Rachel grinned, "Besides my goal is to make him jealous. We're going to be so hot tonight all the guys are going to be all over us!"

"I'm not sure if I want that," Annie confessed, "I just wanna spend time with you and the guys before they leave for Europe."

"Oh I know. And we will definitely do that too," Rachel reassured the redhead, "But we should have some fun with other guys too. I mean seriously we are two hot single girls on the prowl, nothing can stop us!"

Annie laughed and nodded at Rachel. She felt sort of guilty for not telling her about she and Mac, but nobody could find out. Rachel wasn't best known for keeping secrets and since she's with OC it would be bound to come out. And also, no one knows. Not even Mark, Mac's best friend, who Annie actually wants to tell because he seems like a good guy that wouldn't tell anyone.

"Yeah, you might wanna slow it down tiger. I know OC more than I know anybody, you flirt with one guy, he'll be jealous," Annie warned.

"Perfect."

The girls went out to eat before the party and then to the bar. They didn't want to go to the party too early so they arrived at ten, when it was just getting started. It took them a while to track down the guys but some of them seemed to be already occupied, including Mac who was flirting with a cute brunette.

"Hey loser," OC greeted his on again off again girlfriend.

"Hey...idiot," she chuckled.

"What's going on?" OC asked both Conway and Rachel.

Before Conway could answer Rachel blurted, "We're just about to go and look for some hot guys to dance with."

"Why?" OC already sounded a bit jealous.

"We broke up remember," Rachel coyly smiled.

"No, I mean why do you need to look for a hot guy to dance with since I'm the hottest one in the room," OC replied.

"Prove it," Rachel laughed as she pulled him out of the chair he was sitting in.

The two went off to do God knows what, leaving Annie alone with all the guys, who were flirting with other girls.

'God this is so awkward,' Annie thought to herself.

She looked a little disappointed at Mac, as he kept flirting with the girl, not even acknowledging her presence. She then left to find the nearest keg, hoping to run into somebody she knew from her classes to hang out with them instead. But unfortunately for her she saw a guy that she didn't want to see.

"Hey Mary!"

"It's Annie!"

She was always so annoyed when Andrew called her that and had no idea why. He did it every time that she served his table and she hated it.

"Care for a drink?" he said pouring her something from the keg.

"No I'm fine really. I'm going to a different keg," she sighed.

She then turned to see Mac and the anonymous brunette flirting and laughing and having a really good time. Annie took a deep breath, turned around, and walked back over to Andrew.

"I'd love a drink."

**What did you think?**


	19. I Can't Get No Satisfaction

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev-Thanks for the review! Mac was being a jerk but he gets a little better in this chapter, which will have a lot of drama :)**

**Meadow567- Thanks for reviewing, and the party does get more interesting ;)**

**Maraudermarshall- Thanks for the review! Glad you liked it :) And let's just say she doesn't exactly get anyone jealous in this chapter…**

**Blueheaven4220 -Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like my story so far. I hope you like my next chapter.**

**Neonnbible- Thanks for the review and Mac was being a loser last chapter. He's a little better in this chapter but not much. He's gonna get a lot better and so awesome in the chapters I have planned when I come back :)**

**AN: Well, this is my last chapter before I go off to camp. Thanks everyone who reviewed my last chapter and who read it. I hope you like this one and I think we all know what song the title of this chapter is based on :) Enjoy!**

**Chapter 19**

A few hours had passed since Annie and Andrew started talking. They spent their entire time at the keg and it was very rare to see Annie not gulping down her beer. By this point she was very drunk.

"You know, Andrew, your pretty hot," the redhead giggled as she took a sip of her beer.

"Yeah I know," Andrew answered. He wasn't very drunk because he knew to hold his liquor.

Annie drunkenly laughed, "Your pretty funny too."

Andrew gave her a confused look, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"What?" Annie yelled. She couldn't hear him either since the party was getting even louder.

"Maybe we should go somewhere more quiet...to talk more," he hopefully suggested.

Annie looked off to her side and saw Mac and the girl he was flirting with earlier having a great time dancing. Annie took one last chug of her drink.

"God boys are so stupid," she rolled her eyes sounding like a complete ditz, "Ok, lets go."

Andrew grabbed her hand and led her to entrance. He nodded to a few of his friends who saw him leaving with her and gave them a smug look. They then left the party and Andrew began leading her to his car.

"Where are we going?" Annie asked.

"Back to my place," the frat boy answered.

"But I don't wanna go back to your place," the redhead replied.

"We're just gonna talk," he lied.

"Ok," she naively nodded.

The two walked until they reached the stairs. Andrew held her hand and tried to get her to go down them but instead of taking a small step she took a huge one and fell all the way down. It was only three steps but it still hurt.

"Ouch," she whined.

Andrew offered his hand to help her out, "Here."

"No! Don't touch me!" she warned rather loudly.

Before she was able to get herself up, she saw someone come up from right behind Andrew and punch him right in the face! That knocked him out because his body was weaker due to the alcohol. Then the guy came into eye view and she immediately recognized who it was.

"Mark?!?"

Mark pulled her off the ground, "Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah," she laughed, still sorta drunk, "I never pictured _you_ to punch anyone out, Magic."

Mark nodded. He could tell right away that she was drunk, "That guy is a loser. You shouldn't of left with him."

"Why? We were just going to talk,"Annie giggled.

Mark rolled his eyes, "Yeah. Lemme take you home now..."

"Ok," she squealed.

The two walked over to his car and she tripped a couple times on the way. Mark tried to help her in the car but she insisted, "I got it! I got it!"

The car ride was in silence for the first couple of minutes until Mark decided to give her the "older brother" lecture that Annie would hear OC tell Katherine a couple of times.

"What were you thinking?" Mark began.

Annie thought for a moment, "You know, I wasn't...I wasn't thinking."

"Yeah, I can see that. But seriously, keep away from that guy. Ask Mac, he can tell you all about him," Mark tried.

"NO! I am not talking to Mac," she drunkenly proclaimed.

"What? Why? I thought you guys we're like at peace now," Mark said.

"You know what I'm so pissed off at him right now, don't even get me started. In fact right now all guys suck," she said.

"Oh yeah, why is that?"

"Because he was flirting with another girl..." Annie loudly and sadly groaned.

"Who was flirting with another girl?" then a guy popped in his mind, "Was Tom flirting with another girl?"

"Yeah," she said to him sarcastically as if he was a stupid five year old. But Mark believed she would actually talk like that since she was pretty wasted.

"Tom is obviously a loser. I mean if he really cared about you he wouldn't of left," Mark cheered her up.

Annie looked at him. She was touched, "Awwww thanks Mark!"

"Yeah," Mark nodded. He was trying really hard not to laugh at how drunk she was.

Mark finally pulled up to her grandfather's house. He's driven her there a few times after practice so he knew where it was. And he knew it was a lot quieter than her residence hall.

"Thanks Mark," Annie said, she sounded a little more sober than before, "Seriously, thank you."

"Your welcome," he nodded.

She left the car and as soon as she closed the door she vomited on the sidewalk. Mark gave her a sympathetic look.

"Hangovers suck," she complained, "Good luck in Europe."

"Good luck with hangover," he replied.

She then walked slowly to her grandfather's house and Mark made sure that she was inside her house. Then Mark drove away.

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The party lasted for another couple of hours but Mac, Mark, and Bah all left at one in the morning. They hoped to get some sleep before their early flight later that morning.

"Where were you like an hour and a half ago?" Bah asked.

"Yeah, we looked for you everywhere but you we couldn't find you..."Mac explained.

"Well, we didn't look everywhere," Bah suggested, "Did little Magic go upstairs with a girl?"

Mac laughed, "Yeah, that was the only place we didn't look!"

"No," Mark answered, "Conway was really wasted tonight so I drove her home."

"She was?" Mac asked a bit concerned.

"I can't picture Conway drunk," Bah laughed, "Is she a funny drunk?"

"No," Mark told him, "She was pretty wasted and she was about to leave with Andrew so I gave her a lift home."

"Andrew?" Mac was angry, "I hate that guy! Why would she go off with him?"

"Why does it matter?" Bah asked, "It's not like you two are going out. You two can hardly stand each other..."

"Besides, Annie was pretty drunk and I think he took advantage of that," Mark explained.

"Yeah Andrew's a creep. That wouldn't surprise me," Bah said.

"Why would she be with him in the first place?" Mac was still a little pissed. He told her not to talk to him.

"I don't know. I asked and she said that **he** was flirting with another girl. And when I asked if he was Tom she was sorta drunk and I think she was joking when she said yeah. So my guess is that some guy she likes was flirting with another girl so thats why she got drunk," Mark told his friends.

"Probably," Bah agreed.

"Does anyone else know that she got drunk?" Mac asked.

"Only OC and Rachel. They asked me if I had seen her when I got back and I told them. Rachel left to help her and OC drove her, but I think he isn't gonna stick around," Mark said.

"She needed help?" Bah laughed, "She was that drunk?"

"Man, I was lucky that she didn't puke all over the car," Mark replied both joking and seriously.

The guys continued talking the whole way home but Mac had a bad feeling in his stomach. He felt really bad about what happened to Annie and he blamed himself, knowing that he was the guy Mark was referring to. He decided that he would go to talk to her later before he and the team left for the European Expo.

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Mac arrived at Annie's grandfather's house bright and early. He had to be at his place in an hour so he could drive with Bah and Mark to the hockey rink, where the bus would pick them up. He told his roommates that he was just going over to his brother's house to say goodbye before they left, but that wasn't the case at all.

He saw OC and Rachel leave the house bickering like always. Rachel looked like she stayed the night because she was still wearing the same clothes but OC didn't because Mac saw that OC had all his stuff packed in his car, ready for the trip. OC and Rachel didn't see Mac because Mac ducked in his car when they came close. As soon as the couple left, Mac got out of his car and walked to Annie's front door.

**Knock, Knock, Knock**

It took a minute until Annie finally answered the door. She looked horrible. Her hair was all kinky and in a messy bun and she was very pale. She must've been pretty hung over.

"Hi," she greeted unemotionally.

"Hey," he replied, "Can I come in?"

"No. I hate you!"

"Just hear me out," Mac tried.

"Why should I?" she asked.

"Because I know the perfect hangover cure. Mark taught me how to make it," he said.

"Come on," she nodded towards the inside.

Mac stepped into the house and Annie closed the door. The two went to the kitchen and Annie sat at the table and put her head down to rest. Mac made the drink and said that if she knew what was in it she wouldn't drink it. Annie gave it a shot and chugged it down, she felt better after ten minutes.

"Thanks," she said, not even looking at him.

"Look, we need to talk about last night. I know what happened," Mac began.

"Mark told everyone?" she was embarrassed.

"No!" Mac reassured her, "Only OC and Rachel because they asked and Bah and me because we asked where he was."

"Good. Because I made a complete ass of myself last night and it was all your fault,"Annie blamed.

"I know. Look Mark told us what you said and I know it's my fault that you hung out with Andrew. Were you trying to piss me off or make me jealous or something?" Mac accused.

"No! I was trying to get you to know I was there! Jeez...you spent all your time talking to that stupid brunette that you didn't even acknowledge my existence," Annie complained, "So yeah, I knew that you hate Andrew for some unknown reason so that's why I hung out with him."

"Well I guess you know now," Mac joked, "Because he's an asshole."

"I already knew that! But you obviously don't like him for a different reason. Care to share that?" Annie tried.

"Yeah, because he's a womanizing asshole...and he slept with my ex-girlfriend," Mac said.

"I'm not your ex-girlfriend, Mac!"

"I know you wouldn't sleep with him...by choice. He was gonna take advantage of you. Thank God Mark was there..."

"Yeah...too bad you weren't. You were too busy with that other girl to notice that your 'girlfriend' was about to leave with the guy you can't stand," Conway vented.

"Look I know that! I said I was sorry, ok? What more do you want?" Mac shouted.

Annie was quiet for a moment. She needed time to think this entire thing over and really get some perspective on it, and she knew that he needed to do the same.

"I...I need a break," she told him.

"What?" he asked.

"Just hear me out!" she tried, "We both need a break and figure out what's going on between us. These past couple of weeks had been weird and awkward and confusing and I just need to know whats going on."

Mac nodded. To be honest he was just as confused as she was. He was attracted to her but did he really like her enough that they could go out? Especially going out in secret because OC would be absolutely furious if they went out, which could lead to him getting kicked off the team and Conway and OC never speaking again. Was this relationship really worth all that risk?

"I know," he agreed.

"These two weeks apart will help us figure out whats going on and stuff," she said.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Ok," she sighed, "I guess I'll see you in two weeks."

"Yeah," he said, "Bye Conway"

"Later Mac"

**Ok, don't hate me for doing that! I'm sorry. It just seemed like the perfect place to leave off at, you know? Anyways please review. And my new chapter won't be up until July 28th. Woah more than a month I know. But when I come back it's going to be better than ever :)**


	20. Stay With Me

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev- Thanks for the review! I'm really happy you liked Mark's part in it. He's gonna have a bigger part coming up in a couple of chapters.**

**Meadow567- Thanks for reviewing. And as for the break, I'm glad you like it. They really needed that time to figure stuff out and throughout the story they'll be questioning their relationship. I think you'll like those parts :)**

**Bluehaven4220- You will definitely like this story in the next few weeks. One because it will be filled with drama, comedy, and fluff involving Mac and Annie and another will be because I'm updating every three to four days for the rest of the summer! And Mark is gonna have a big part in a couple of chapters from now.**

**Maraudermarshall- Thanks for reviewing! I'm sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter but it's here now and I hope you enjoy!**

**AN: Well I'm back! Camp was a lot of fun and I got a couple of ideas for my story while I was there! Since I'm back now, I think I mentioned this before, I'll be updating my story every three to four days. I did this last summer for Times Like These and I think my readers really liked it. Not all my chapters will be as long as the ones before but it gets a lot of the story out of the way so I'll finish it up in the beginning of the school year (my guess is that it will be finished sometime in October). Anyways, I know this has been a long wait so here it is my new chapter, finally.**

**AN 2: There will be a line in this chapter about a little more than the halfway mark, and it's gonna be really familiar to you. I was watching The Breakfast Club last night with my friend and I just needed to put that in there. I love that movie! Ok, here it is...for real this time lol.**

**Chapter 20**

**All the leaves are brown  
(All the leaves are brown)  
And the sky is gray.  
(And the sky is gray).  
I've been for a walk  
(I've been for a walk)  
On a winter's day.  
(On a winter's day).**

**I'd be safe and warm  
(I'd be safe and warm)  
if I was in L.A.  
(If I was in L.A.)  
California dreamin'  
(California dreamin') on such a winter's**...

The music stopped right in the middle of the song. Smoke came out of the hood of the old used baby blue Mustang convertible. It was inevitable, the car was about to break down.

The driver of the car, twenty-two year old Annie Conway, pulled the car over on the side of the deserted highway. She checked the clock in the car which read 1:22 AM.

"Perfect," the red head muttered to herself, "This is how all the horror movies begin."

Frustrated, she got out of the car and lifted the hood only to be met by a huge steamy smoke cloud. Her hair was doubling in size every second due to the humidity of the steam but Conway couldn't give a crap, she was tired and just wanted to go home.

It had been two weeks since Annie saw her best friend Jack O'Callahan and all her friends on the team. It had also been two weeks since she last spoke to Robbie McClanahan. They were due to come back earlier that night from their two week European Expo. She only got one phone call from them in the two weeks that they were away and OC promised her that they would be back by ten o'clock. When the time came and passed she was very upset and worried that he and his teammates were no shows but also a little relieved.

Conway had a lot of time over the past two weeks to think about her and Mac. She even made a pro and con list of why they should and shouldn't be together but after all the thinking and doubt she came up with the same conclusion that she came up with weeks ago, she really liked Robbie McClanahan. You can't control who you fall for because if she could, picking her best friend's least favorite person wouldn't have been her first choice for a boyfriend.

The tall red head also thought about all of the changes that had happened to her since she came to Minnesota. She came there a loose sport jersey wearing tomboy with frizzy hair and a slight Boston accent, only when she was angry, to a straight haired perfect fit clothing girl with bangs, but that good old Boston accent never left! Her attitude changed a bit too. Before she would take OC's side no questions asked, like any best friend would do. But now it was different, she made her own choices for herself and didn't care what OC would think or anyone else for that matter. That was a big reason why she thought she would fall for Robbie McClanahan.

Also in the past two weeks there was a big change. About three days after the team left for Europe Annie finally saved up enough money to buy herself a car. She had worked her ass off for months at a popular college bar and finally got rewarded...well almost. She worked the late shift tonight, getting off at one fifteen in the morning, and her car broke down as she was singing to the background to "California Dreamin'" on the deserted highway on her drive home.

"Damn it!" she cursed to herself as she looked down at all the car parts beneath the open hood.

Annie had no idea how to fix a car, hell she didn't even know which part was the engine. She hopelessly looked down at all the different parts hoping that any sort of car knowledge would just pop into her head if she stared hard enough, but unfortunately for her it did not. In fact, all the hard staring caused the fumes to get into her eyes and she began to tear up, partly because of the fumes and also because she was so exhausted she just wanted to go home and not have to deal with the car any more.

Not knowing what else to do Annie angrily got back into the car. She tried turning her key in the ignition but instead of the car starting all could be heard was a whinny growl. This made Annie really upset, she started hitting the interior of her car. She just slapped random parts; the radio, the seats, the steering wheel, the horn.

**BEEP BEEP**

'Well at least that still worked', she thought to herself, who was at this point near hysterics.

Then there was a loud tap at her window, causing her to scream. She looked over to see who it was and it was probably the last person she would suspect.

"Doc?" she was taken aback.

She then opened her door and got out. She saw Doc and Herb Brooks standing right outside her car. Looking about twenty feet in back of her she could see a Greyhound bus. That was it, they were back.

"Hi," she greeted them, she was really surprised.

"Are you ok?" Herb asked.

"Yeah..."Annie replied a little flustered, "Yeah, I'm ok. My car just died...that's all."

Then the car made an awful whinny growl noise, similar to when she tried to start it up again. She shook her head at her mess of a car then turned back to Doc and Herb.

"What are you guys doing here?" she couldn't help but ask.

Before she could answer she felt a hand on her shoulder. On reflex she jumped but then turned around to see her best friend, OC. She gave him a big hug.

"Hey," OC was a little surprised by such a huge hug, "Conway, you alright?"

"No," she sighed, "My car just died."

"How long have you been waiting out here?" Rizzo came into view.

"Only like five minutes...how did you see me? There are hardly any streetlights..."she observed.

"We heard you beeping your horn," Doc informed her.

"Well at least my car is good for something."

"Do you wanna ride back to the U with us?" OC offered.

She sighed, "I really want to...but I have to wait with the car. I don't want anything more to happen to it."

"Can't you get it fixed in the morning?" Doc tried.

"I'll fix it..."

Everyone turned their heads towards Robbie McClanahan who had just joined the small group. They were probably the only people awake on the bus in that early hour of the morning.

"Hey Mac," Annie looked down, luckily for her no one noticed.

"Hey Conway," he greeted back, "Do you need any help with the car?"

"Yeah, but I don't know whats wrong with it," Annie replied.

"I can see whats the problem is and fix it, my uncle is a mechanic and I used to work down at the shop every summer," he explained.

"Are you sure?" Annie asked a little skeptical.

"Yeah trust me. It might take long though so you all might wanna go home," he said to Herb, Doc, Rizzo and OC.

"What about you?" Rizzo asked.

"I'll give you a ride home, Mac," Annie, finally getting the gist, jumped in, "You live off Maple right?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded.

"Perfect, that's like ten minutes away from my dorm room. I'll drop you off on my way home," Annie told him and everyone else who still wasn't 100 percent ok with the plan.

"Great."

"Excellent."

"Fantastic, everyone ready to go?" Doc asked everyone else.

"Yeah," both OC and Rizzo said in unison.

"Remember practice is at noon, Mac," Herb reminded him before they all walked away.

Annie and Robbie waited until the bus drove off before either of them spoke, or moved for that matter. They hadn't seen or spoken to each other for two weeks, since they both agreed to the break. They just stared at each other.

"Hi," Mac began.

"Hey," Conway gave a small smile.

"How have you been?" he asked.

"I've been better."

Mac took a deep breath as if he was about to say something important but he just walked towards the hood of the broken down car instead. He tried to clear some of the smoke away with his hands. He looked like he had no idea what to do.

"I'll be honest with you...My uncle isn't really a mechanic. The only auto experience I have is a semester of Shop in high school..." Mac confessed.

"What?" Annie was less than pleased, "Did you at least do alright in that class?"

"No...I failed," he was embarrassed.

Annie couldn't help but laugh. She just began to crack up. This was the icing on top of a great night.

"Perfect," she was still laughing.

"What? You think I'm an idiot because I failed Shop?" Mac had no idea why she would be laughing.

Annie shook her head and the laughing went down a bit, "No, it's just my luck. Why did you say you knew how to fix my car when you clearly can't?"

"Well I'm glad you think this is funny," Mac complained as he still looked down at the different parts, "Because the only reason I lied was so I could have the chance to talk to you, but you obv..."

"To me?" Annie stopped laughing.

"Yeah," Mac sighed, "I've missed you these past two weeks and I just wanted to spend some time with you that's all..."

Annie was touched. She knew that they were on the same page. She walked closer to him until she reached the hood of the car.

"For the record, no. I don't think you're an idiot because you failed shop. I think you're a fucking genius because you failed shop," she smiled.

They both looked at each other and moved their faces closer for a kiss when...

**SPLAT**

Something in the car caused black oil to explode all over the both of them. It hit them both right in the face and wouldn't stop. Annie covered her eyes to prevent the oil from getting in them and Robbie found the source of the problem and used his fingers to prevent any more oil from hitting at them.

"Do you have a towel or anything?" he asked Annie.

"Yeah," she nodded, "It's in the car, I'll get it."

She ran around the car and opened the trunk, where she found one of her grandfather's old towels. She grabbed it and ran back towards Robbie. He took out his fingers and before any more oil could come out, Robbie covered up the hole with it.

"I think I know what the problem is...and I think I can fix it. Give me fifteen minutes," he told her.

"Ok," she nodded.

She waited in the car until he was done. Apparently there was a hole in some oil thing, well that was all that Annie could understand when Robbie tried to explain to her afterwards.

"By chance do you have any more towels?" Robbie asked as he got into the shot gun.

"Unfortunately no," she shook her head, "We can wash off at the McDonalds, it's like three miles up this road."

"Great I'm hungry," he could hear his stomach growl.

"Yeah join the club," she said as she started up the car, and this time it worked.

The car ride was completely silent. The two went to their separate bathrooms when they got to the fast food joint. Annie looked at herself in the mirror.

'God, I look awful' she thought to herself.

Her hair was so frizzy that she put it up in a ponytail. Oil was all over her face. She washed herself off so she could look at least descent. When drying herself off she realized something, she never thanked Robbie.

Annie ran out of the bathroom to see him ordering food. They were the only two customers there so they could sit anywhere they wanted. Annie walked right up to him and he turned around when he heard her. She gave him a huge hug, bigger than the one she gave to OC.

"Thank you so much," she said in his ear.

"No problem," he hugged her back, overwhelmed by her sincerity, "I ordered a Big Mac for you. Is that alright?"

They let go at this point and she nodded her head, "Yeah. It's perfect."

Annie sat down at the cleanest booth as Robbie got the food and paid. He sat down across from her and she got out her wallet.

"How much do I owe ya?" she asked.

"Nothing, it's on me," Rob answered.

"You sure?"

"Positive, now eat"

She began to eat her burger and her side of fries, when she remembered they hadn't really talked yet. She wanted to find out how things were in Europe and how things were with them. Were they really on the same page, or just friends? Was that gonna be another awkward kiss?

"So how was Europe?" Annie asked.

"It was great, well except for Norway," he shrugged.

"Oh really? What happened in Norway?"

"As soon as we got there we had a practice, the game which we tied three to three, and an hour of Herbies afterwards. He said if we played that bad again we would have to do that again the next game. We won that fifteen to three I think," he reminisced.

"That really sucks," she sympathized, "But other than that everything was ok?"

"Yeah, it was really great over there," then he threw in, "Some great sites."

Annie giggled. She remembered that she really wanted the guys to take the opportunity to get in the sites while they were there, she didn't think they'd actually see them though.

"What can I say? Your persuasion was pretty tempting," he smirked.

"Well in some matters I can be quite persuasive," she whispered in a very flirtatious way.

"So how were your two weeks?" Mac asked, mostly just to needle her.

"They were fine. My gramps is doing ok and I bought Gloria..."

"Gloria?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "The car. That song was playing at the bar when I got enough tip money to afford it."

"Van Morrison right?"

"Yep"

The two were silent for a moment. Then Mac spoke out.

"I want to get back together..." he began.

Before Conway could say anything he continued, "Look I know last time pretty much sucked. I mean we hardly knew each other or saw each other and we were mostly messing around, but this time I really think it can work. These past two weeks got me to think a lot about us and I missed you a lot and I really wished that you were with us. And I think a problem with our last go was that you felt like you were betraying OC by being with me and that's why we never really got together..."

"Wow, you've thought a lot about this," Annie gave a half smile.

"Yeah. I really want this to work. Not like marriage or anything big, but I want you to be my girlfriend, for real this time. No messing around," he tried.

"I really want that too, but what about OC? What if he finds out? Rachel told me that you guys got into a fight once after a game...and it was about me. I don't want either of you to get kicked off the team because of this."

"We won't," Mac insisted, "I roomed with OC the entire two weeks we were in Europe. And I don't know how you could love the guy as your best friend, but I can tolerate him now. And I think he feels the same about me."

"You guys can tolerate each other?" Annie gleamed, that news alone made her night from awful to awesome.

"Yeah," he nodded, "So what do you say? Want another go, see where it takes us?"

"I'd love to," she smiled.

The two both moved their heads across the table and met at the center, this time their kiss wasn't interrupted by oil splatting over them. As a matter of fact, it was perfect. It was none of the awkward stuff they did when they first got together, they actually meant the kiss as something more. When the broke apart there was no awkward aftermath either.

"Ready to go?" he got up and reached for her hand.

"Ready when you are," she grabbed his hand.

He pulled her up and they walked hand in hand out of the empty fast food joint.

"Wow, this is like our first date," Conway smiled.

"Yeah, this is by far the weirdest first date I've been on. And the latest too," he joked.

"Same here. It was also the most fun," she giggled as she gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

Annie unlocked the door and they both got in. Annie was driving as her new boyfriend was shotgun. Once the car started, she turned on the radio which was playing ending of the song "Stay With Me". The next song the DJ announced was "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones, their song. They sang along with it the whole car ride to Mac's house.

**Well that was the chapter :) What do you think? Please review!**


	21. A Ruined Date

**Anna: **Thanks for the review. I'm glad it was worth the wait :)

**Everpresentpast: **Yeah Mac was a sweetie in that chapter and there will be some fluff moments coming up later ;) And The Breakfast Club is like one of my favorite movies. I know it's so 80s and all but I watched it like the night before I posted it so I just had to throw that line in there!

**Maraudermarshall: **Thanks for reviewing! And there will be PLENTY of drama coming up in the next few chapters, this one is sorta light but Thanksgiving is gonna have some stuff.

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: **I'm glad it was worth the wait! And I think we all wish for a hot guy like Mac helping us with our cars, even if he did fail shop ;)

**Meadow567: **Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad it was worth the wait :)

**Bluehaven4220: **There will be plenty more Mac/Conway stuff, both drama and comedy. This chapter is little more comedic than dramatic but I think you'll like it.

**AN: Thanks everyone for their awesome reviews! I'm glad you all liked it. The beginning of this chapter was originally going to be in the last chapter, but I didn't want to put too much stuff in it (because it was already 7 pages long!) So the beginning is all talk and stuff and not much happens until later on. Anyways, I hope you like it. Please review when your done :)**

**Chapter 21**

The next day after practice, Annie walked into a very mellow crowd. It was like all the tension between the team went away during their trip to Europe, and especially dealing with all that stuff in Norway it could have really bonded them as a team.

"I forgot to ask you guys this morning," Conway began as she massaged Silk's back, "Why did you guys come home so late? I thought you'd be back by ten..."

"We hit a moose," OC unemotionally answered.

"What?" Annie gasped, "Is the moose ok?"

"Yeah it's fine," Silky muttered.

"Are you sure?" Annie questioned.

"Positive. Herb saw it run off..." OC rolled his eyes.

"Good. Then I'll have to ask him about it when I'm done with you guys," Conway teased.

"Why it's just a stupid moose?" OC groaned.

"Mooses have feelings too!" Annie tried, "What if you were hit by an airplane and no cared whether or not you were ok?"

"Ok first of all, mooses is not the plural for a moose. And second, I'm nothing like a moose. I've never pissed in a river," OC joked.

"Fine then all knowledgeable one, what's the plural of moose?"

"How should I know?"

"I thought it was mooses too," Silky added.

"I think the plural of moose is moose. I don't think it changes," Mac came into the conversation.

"I think he's right," Annie nodded and gave a quick smile to Mac, unnoticeable to everyone else.

"Probably. I haven't heard another name for moose," OC agreed.

Conway gave him an odd look. She still couldn't believe that Mac and OC actually tolerate each other now.

Before an awkward silence could erupt Silky asked, "What have you been doing these past two weeks?"

"Working," she sighed, "But I did get a car, which broke down. Thanks again, Mac, for fixing it."

"No problem"

"How's Rachel? Crying herself to sleep every night since I left?" OC joked.

Annie sarcastically laughed, "No. She's going out with some guy from her Psych class. He's a real asshole. I met him last weekend."

"Really?" OC tried not to sound pissed, "What's his name?"

"James something...I can't remember," Annie answered, "But he didn't go here for undergrad. Guess where he went? BC!"

Boston College (BC) and Boston University (BU) probably had the biggest sports rivalry for college, especially for hockey. This rivalry is even bigger than the one between BU and University of Minnesota or the one between University of Wisconsin and the U. Some say it's almost as bad as Yankees and Red Sox.

Before OC could say anything else, Annie started talking, "So I met everyones girlfriends. Phil, I met Marguerite and she's really pretty. I wonder why she decided to go out with you!"

All the guys laughed and Phil pretended to be upset by it. He even put his hand on his heart, pretending to be shocked. But they all knew she was teasing.

"Ouch!" Phil laughed.

"That was a burn. I feel bad now. I'll tell you what you can burn me back," Annie joked.

"Ok I'll save it for later then. I'm just gonna catch a falling burn, put it in my pocket and save it for a rainy day," Phil said.

"Good plan," Conway nodded.

"So Conway, do you have tonight off?" OC asked his best friend.

Annie slowly nodded. While she was driving Mac home he asked if she wanted to go to a movie that night because it was her night off and she was planning on going out with him.

"Yeah"

"Do you wanna hang out tonight?"

"Can't," she quickly answered, then covered up with the story, "I gotta do my laundry tonight. I have like no clothes left. It's pretty sad actually. And it's the only time I can do it because I've got an early class tomorrow."

"Sucks to be you," OC laughed.

Once Annie was done massaging everyone and said, "I'm gonna go ask Herb about the moose."

"You're being ridiculous!" OC sighed.

"Oh shut up OC!" she laughed.

Conway winked to Mac before leaving the locker room and went down to Herb's office to make sure the moose was ok. When he assured her that everything was alright Annie left, but not before going back in the locker room to inform OC that the moose was definitely OK.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night Robbie picked up Annie at her grandfather's house. The two were planning on seeing Apocalypse Now. The movie was pretty long so they decided to go out to eat before hand.

"So since you have your car and all are you gonna quit your job at the bar and work for the team full time?" Mac asked.

"No, I wish," Annie gave a small laugh, "That would be so easy. But I need the money for gas and everything. I'm hoping to get an apartment next year."

"That sucks that you have to keep working and all. Are Andrew and his friends still bothering you?"

"No,"she shook her head, "I think Mark punching him in the face straightened him out. He doesn't go to that bar anymore."

"Good," he nodded.

"What happened exactly between you guys that made you hate him so much?" Annie questioned.

"He slept with my ex-girlfriend right after we broke up. I knew him when we were dating too and he's a real jerk."

"Is that all, Mac?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. She was a little unconvinced but before she could say anything else the food came.

After eating they both had desert and walked from the restaurant to the movie theater, which was only a block away. They walked hand and hand and to get to know each other better they asked each other questions while walking and then waiting in line at the movies.

"Favorite movie?" Mac asked, while they were moving up in line.

"'Star Wars'," she smiled, "What about you?"

"You like 'Star Wars'?" Mac was a little surprised.

"Yeah," she giggled, "Why?"

"You're too hot to like 'Star Wars'," he laughed.

"Well do you like 'Star Wars'?" she asked.

"Yeah of course," he answered.

"Why? You're too hot to like 'Star Wars'" she repeated.

While still hand and hand Mac pulled Annie in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She looked up at him and joked, "How about for our next date we can watch 'Star Wars' on tv and we can be like the two hottest people watching it."

"Sounds like a plan," he went along with it.

The two found seats in the semi crowded theater right in the center. The talked and shared popcorn before the movie began.

"So what did you say to the guys when you went out tonight?" she asked.

"I told them I went out with my older brother," he explained then smirked, "Don't worry though. You're a lot more fun than my older brother."

"Really?" she laughed in a softer voice.

"Yeah," he nodded and whispered back.

They were about to kiss when they we're broken up by familiar voices. The couple saw OC, Bah, Pav, Phil, and Rizzo all come into the theater. As their friends were walking around the theater to find seats Mac pulled Annie down and they were both ducking. The theater was a little dark which made it easier for them to hide.

"Oh fuck...what are we gonna do?" Annie asked.

"Just stay down," Mac said quietly.

Mac looked up and saw the guys found seats a few rows in front of them. They were all just joking around and threw popcorn around.

"Ok, we have to go," Mac told her.

"Yeah. Let's go out the back doors then they won't see us," Annie nodded towards the doors on both sides of the back.

"Let's go"

The two got up and Mac held her hand as he led her out of the crowded row of people.

"Hey watch it pal!" one guy yelled at the couple as they were walking past them.

Annie's heart sank. She turned her head to the guys, sitting a few rows down, but thankfully none of them looked back. Annie sighed in relief as Mac apologized. As soon as they got out of the row, they quickly walked up to the back of the theater trying not to catch attention.

"Ok, that was like too close back there!" Annie exclaimed when they got out of the theater.

"I know," Mac sighed. He was relieved that they didn't get caught.

"Let's go back to my grandfather's place. No one will catch us there," Annie joked.

Mac glanced at the theater one last time before he said, "Yeah, let's go."

They were both pretty disappointed that their date was ruined by the guys coming, but they knew something like that could happen since their relationship is a secret and all.

"I want my money back," Mac said as they went out the back stairs out of the theater.

"What?" Conway asked.

"My money. We never even saw the movie, I want my money back!" Mac complained.

"You can't go back in!"

"Why not?" Mac was getting a little pissed. He lost his money and his date was ruined, this good night was going downhill fast.

"What if one of the guys is thirsty and go out to get a drink while we're in the lobby getting your money back? Or what if some more of the team is there?"

Annie was right and Robbie knew it. He couldn't go back in. Hell, they couldn't have a normal date like they wanted, it was too risky. This relationship was becoming hard, like it was before. And since they have become closer, if somebody found out they'd lose a lot more.

**What did you think? Please review :) **


	22. Thanksgiving

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev- Unfortunately there are no real cute Mac/Annie stuff in this chapter, but there will be plenty coming up soon!**

**Meadow567- **Thanks for the review. This chapter is gonna give Annie a change of heart in the whole secret relationship thing. I think you're gonna like it!

**Anna-** Thanks for reviewing!

**Everpresentpast- **There will be a couple close calls between Mac and Annie coming up :) Thanks for the review! I'm really happy that you might make that one shot into a full story! It's gonna be good.

**Bluehaven4220-** Thanks for the review. And later on in the story this will all unfold into a really crazy scene!

**AN: Thanks for your awesome reviews! It's really cool that you're all into the plot and I love reading your ideas and predictions :) You guys are amazing. I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I had this giant writers block. It was weird because I knew what I wanted to write but I didn't know a good way to write it. But anyways here it is, extra long just for you guys! I hope you all like it. And oh yeah, I am a Mighty Ducks fan and you'll see that in my chapter soon enough.**

**Chapter 22**

The beginning of the car ride was dead silent. Mac was still pissed about losing his money at the movies, but tried not to show and. And Annie, well Annie was just upset that her date was ruined. But she knew they couldn't stay. If OC found out, there would be loads of trouble. OC barely stands the guy and she going out with him would make it even worse, thats why she knew this had to be a secret. Annie was sorta creped out by the quietness of the car so she turned on Mac's radio:

**I see the bad moon arising.  
I see trouble on the way...**

Annie turned off the radio as quickly as she turned it on. She loved the song but it was so not the right time to hear this one, especially since it is about foretelling trouble. This couldn't foretell a problem in their relationship, could it? She was always a little superstitious but that was just crazy thinking. How could a song you turn on the radio to foretell your relationship, that was ridiculous! Annie kept telling herself that for the next couple of moments until Mac finally spoke up.

"I like that song..."

"Huh?" Annie lost her train of thought when Mac talked.

"I like that song. Why did you turn it off?" Mac asked.

"Because I'm superstitious," she honestly answered.

Somehow Mac fully understood what she meant by that answer. He personally wasn't superstitious at all. In fact he was the type who would break mirrors and walk on cracks in the sidewalk on Friday the 13th.

"The song doesn't have anything to do with us," he laughed, trying to make her feel better.

"I know," she replied, "But tonight was just such a close call. I just wish so much that we don't have to keep this secret or anything-"

"Me too," he cut in, "But you know OC better than anybody. You said yourself he would flip if he found out about us. He can barely tolerate me as it is."

"Well you two better get along better. I don't know how much more of this Herb can take," she warned.

The two sat silently in the car for a moment, waiting for the red light to turn green. It gave Mac a moment to think of a new conversation because getting in a fight with Annie tonight would get them no where. Once the light turned green, Mac started to drive and began a new topic.

"So I heard that your brother is coming out tomorrow for Thanksgiving."

"Yeah," she nodded, "And OC's sister, Katherine. They're good friends. They come in tomorrow afternoon after practice."

"You and OC gonna go pick them up?" he asked.

"Yep. Which is nice, I haven't hung out with him at all since you guys came back. I know it's only been a day but we didn't really talk while you were all away and I want to catch up," she explained.

"That's cool," he said, "We have a short practice tomorrow. Herb is letting us out early so we can go home. Traveling the day before Thanksgiving is gonna be a nightmare."

"Well your lucky that your family lives right here then," she smiled, "None of the guys from BU are leaving though."

"Most of the team isn't. We're having a thing at my apartment. You're going right?"

"You and Mark and Bah are gonna cook?" she crack up, just thinking about it made her laugh.

"No," he answered, "We don't know what we're gonna do yet. But we all talked about it in Europe so everybody is gonna be there."

"Yeah I'll go, if it's alright to bring Katherine and Charlie-"

"Charlie? Is that your brother?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "Charlie Conway."

They pulled up to her grandfather's house. She practically lived there since she hated her roommate so much. But she only had about a month left in the place so she had to finish moving everything out. The house was rented so on December 31, 1979 she has to move everything out and a new family will move in.

"Well good night," she smiled giving him a light kiss on the cheek.

"Woah...wait a second. I thought I was going in too," he pretended to be hurt by her shut down.

"No way! I wasn't joking with OC earlier, I seriously have to do my laundry. Besides you seemed tired all night. Go home and get some sleep. I want you to be well rested for practice tomorrow," she told him.

"Whatever...mom," he rolled his eyes.

"Bye," she smiled giving him one last kiss, this time on the lips.

He kissed back but before it could turn into a make out session she stopped, said one last goodbye and left the car. He waited until she got inside until he drove home.

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"What time do they land again?" OC asked, driving Annie's car.

"Four forty-five," she answered for had to have the hundredth time.

After a short practice, OC and Annie were picking up their younger siblings at the airport. They met because Annie and OC had been friends for so long, and since they were both seniors in the same high school they were friends too. Annie's parents sent her younger brother to help out with the moving process and Katherine just tagged along so he wouldn't get too bored. Despite the fact that OC always acts like he hated his kid sister he seemed pretty excited about seeing her. He really did care about her, even when he doesn't show it.

"So are you working tonight?" OC asked.

"Yeah," Annie nodded, "But it's only from seven to ten. But Charlie and Katherine are coming too so they won't be bored at home or anything."

"Katherine isn't going to a bar," OC said bluntly.

"Yeah she is. I already asked her and she was cool with the idea," Annie told him.

"Of course she's cool with the idea. Any teenager allowed to go into a bar-"

"So we're all going to Mac's tomorrow for dinner?" she started a new topic. She already got a rise out of him and she didn't want them to fight because of something stupid like that.

"Yeah"

"So I heard you and don't hate each other anymore," she tried to see his point of view of it.

"Yeah. Herb roomed us together the whole European Expo. I'm not saying I'd take a bullet for him but I can tolerate him," he grinned his teeth at the last part. He hated to admit it but it was true. He didn't hate Mac anymore, "And it's not just us. The entire team is friends now. I think that hour full of Herbies really united us-"

"That's so great," Annie gleamed.

"Hey, how did you know that anyways? That we got along? No one said anything about it in the locker room," OC questioned.

"Mac told me...when he was fixing my car," she lied. He actually told her on their date.

"Ohhhh," was all he had to say.

"So Rachel came over my house today, to help me get ready for Katherine and Charlie staying over," she began, "And she told me she broke up with James."

"Really?" he pretended to be shocked, "I wonder why."

"Well she told me that you came to her room last night," Annie said. Rachel wasn't going away for Thanksgiving either. She didn't want to get caught up in all the traffic and business of the holiday, especially since she's from New York City and all.

"What else did she say?" he asked.

"She said you too got back together," Annie couldn't help but laugh. She knew from the second they broke up two weeks ago that they would be back together when he got back. And she was right.

"Yeah," he replied, "She's coming tomorrow too. I already asked the guys if she could."

"I can't believe Mac, Bah, and Mark are hosting Thanksgiving," Annie giggled, "I wonder what we're all gonna eat."

"Well your gonna have to make up your mind soon. The guys and I all decided that you, Katherine, Rachel, Buzz's wife Gail, and Phil's girlfriend were gonna do all the cooking," he joked then continued,

"And while you do that the guys and I will play football. Which is perfect because since Charlie will be there the teams will be even."

"Shut up!" she laughed, playfully punching him in the arm.

"Hey, I'm driving here! Wanna get us both killed," he laughed.

The two showed up at the airport right on time. The flight their siblings were on was delayed a bit so they came about a half an hour later.

"What did you do to delay the flight, Katherine?" OC needled when the two teens greeted them.

"Shut up, Jack," she rolled off the tounge, sounding like she had been used to saying it her whole life.

Meanwhile Annie hugged her younger brother Charlie. When they let go he looked at her up and down astonished from the change in her appearance since the last time he saw her in August.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"I got my hair changed," she laughed, "Do you like it?"

Before Charlie could say anything Katherine answered for him, "It's so pretty. I love it!"

"Thanks," Annie said as she greeted her with a hug.

On the car ride home the two girls sat in the front catching up and the two guys sat in the back talking about hockey and the team. The four of them had always gotten along pretty well.

"Jack has a girlfriend?" Katherine laughed, "Who?"

"Her name is Rachel Dawson. She's a friend of mine. But they always break up.."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she replied, "They've broken up twice- a day, since they first got together. I don't even know if they're together right now or not. But I think so..."

"We're going to see where you work tonight, right?" Katherine asked.

"No!" OC jumped in before Annie could speak.

"You're not dad, Jack. I don't need to listen to you," Katherine said.

"Well I can-"

"We're here!" Annie said as they pulled up to the house in an extra chipper voice to try to lower the tension in the car.

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The next day was pretty busy. Before going to the Thanksgiving party at the guys' apartment, Annie and Charlie went to see their grandfather in the nursing home. Afterwards they picked up Rachel.

"Did anybody watch the Macy's parade?" Rachel asked as they drove to the apartment.

"Nobody watches that, Rach," OC tried to get a rise out of her.

"Everybody watches it, Jack," Rachel shot back, "Your a loser because you don't watch it."

"Fine then, how many people watched it today?"

Everyone in the car raised their hands but OC. Even Annie who was driving raised her hands. She found it very funny when someone proved OC wrong.

"Conway, how did you see it? I thought you visited your grandfather." he asked.

"We did," Charlie told him, "We watched it while we were there."

"And I watched it when I made these brownies," Katherine replied, holding on tightly to the plate of brownies in her lap.

"Those are gonna be gone like the second we get in there," Rachel said, "You know that right?"

"Well yeah because I'll be eating them all," Charlie teased Katherine.

"You better not! These are awesome brownies!" Katherine exclaimed.

The group all arrived to the apartment and saw that everybody was already there. Katherine and Charlie had met a couple of them at the bar last night, even though OC was against the whole idea. Like Mac told Annie most of the guys were there. A lot of them were planning on leaving later to attend their family gatherings but some of them planned to stick around until the end. OC was right though, Buzz's wife and Phil's girlfriend were both there too. Annie met them both at the bar but hadn't really hung out with them before.

They all gathered in the small living room and most of the group were sitting on the floor or chairs that the guys had placed out. They were all just sitting around watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

"Well what'd ya know..." Rachel laughed, giving OC a light punch on the shoulder.

"Are you kidding me?"OC was astonished.

"Like I said Jack, everybody watches it but you," Rachel teased.

They all sat down and just talked while watching the parade. The guys had planned on playing football and even asked the girls if they wanted to play. They all declined, none of them wanted to play or even knew how. While the guys were playing the girls all ordered pizza because the guys hadn't made anything.

"Yeah can we have six large Brooklyn style pizzas," Rachel ordered over the phone. Then she turned to the others and jokingly asked, "That's for us, what do you think the guys will want?"

By the time the football game was finished, the pizza arrived. Unfortunately they ordered way too much because at that point most of the guys left to go to their families. The only ones really left were Mac, Bah, Mark, OC, Rizzo, Jimmy, Silky, Coxy, Annie, Katherine, Charlie, and Rachel.

"Ok six times eight is forty-eight, divided by twelve is four. Four pieces each guys," Katherine did the math aloud.

"Good work Katherine. Your gonna get into Harvard for sure!" OC teased.

"I better. I've worked too damn hard not to," Katherine shot back.

"I can't believe you too applied early acceptance to Harvard," Jimmy said to Charlie and Katherine.

"Good luck," Rizzo said before beginning to eat another slice of pizza.

"Why do you wanna go to an Ivy League school anyways? That's no fun. Go to BU and just party for four years...that's what I did," Silky laughed.

"Is that why you don't know how to read Silk?" Mac joked.

"I told you all I tried!" Silk joked back.

They all sat in the living room watching some football game but Annie wasn't paying attention too much. She occasionally looked over at Mac who was on the couch with her and the only one in between them was OC, literally. OC sat there clueless on the couch watching the football game, without knowing anything going on right between him. Mac occasionally looked over at Annie too and they both shared a few glances once in a while. Every time that happened Annie would quickly look down at her food and blush, a little embarrassed to be looking over at him.

After the game the guys and Rachel and Annie wanted to sit around and have another beer but Katherine and Charlie wanted to leave. Annie said she'd give them a drive home but they insisted she stay and that they know the way back.

"I'm sure, Conway," Katherine tried, "It's only like fifteen minutes from here."

"And I'll go with her to make sure she doesn't get lost," Charlie said, "I know my way around anyways. Remember a couple years ago when I spent my summer here with gramps?"

"Alright, go," Annie said, "But be careful!"

"Yes mom!" they both said in unison as they left.

"Why does everybody keep calling me mom?" Annie sighed as she rejoined the group in the living room.

"Well because your bossy," Bah laughed.

"Give me one example," Annie tested them.

The group sat in silence for a moment.

"I said give me one!"

"Right there," Coxy took another sip of beer.

"Shut up!" she giggled as she threw a pillow on the couch at him.

They all sat around talking and drinking and joking around a bit more until they saw that it was getting pretty late. Jimmy noticed that she looked pretty tired and offered to drive Rachel home for her. OC said he'd get a ride with him and the rest of the guys going back to the dorms. She was very thankful because she was pretty tired from that day.

Annie drove up to her grandfather's house to see that the lights were all off, which meant that Charlie and Katherine must've gone to bed. She got out of the car and opened up the front door of the house. She turned on the lights and could not believe her eyes...it was Katherine and her brother making out on the couch in the living.

"Oh my God!" Annie exclaimed out of shock.

"Oh my God," Katherine sighed as she saw them.

"Fuck," Charlie groaned.

"What...what is this?" was all Annie could say.

"We've been going out since September," Katherine quickly said.

"We didn't tell you because we knew OC wouldn't be very happy," Charlie jumped in. He was right, OC was somewhat overprotective of Katherine.

"Please don't tell him," Katherine begged, "I mean we don't even know how long this is gonna last and we don't want Jack to know and get him all upset about this. Please don't tell him..."

Annie was in utter shock. But it wasn't because they were making out on the couch, she was sort of happy they were together because they seemed to really like each other, it was because that they wanted to hide it from OC. She saw her relationship with Mac in them, trying to hide it from OC. Seeing the look in their eyes when she caught them nearly killed her. She didn't want that to happen to them. She didn't want OC to walk in on Mac and her and have an even worse reaction than what she had.

"I gotta...I gotta go..." she muttered.

Annie quickly left the two teenagers, unable to look at them any longer. Looking at them made her regret lying to OC even more than she already was. She didn't want to be like that. She wouldn't.

The red head went up the stairs in the bedroom that she roomed in when she wasn't in her dorm room. She closed the door and quickly locked it. She then grabbed the telephone off the bedside table and rushed into the bathroom which was apart of her room. She locked the door of the bathroom, turned on the light, and slid down the door into a sitting position.

Annie dialed Mac's apartment on the phone. She had only called it once or twice but that was about Thanksgiving. Luckily for her, she had a pretty good memory when it came to stuff like that and was able to jog the number from her brain. As the phone was ringing she prayed to God that it would be Mac that picked up.

"Hello?" she heard the familiar voice of her boyfriend answer.

"Mac," she whispered in the phone, "Don't say it's me."

"Hey, John," he quickly improvised the name of his brother, "Are you alright?"

"No," she replied, "We need to tell him...we need to tell OC about us..."

**Well here's the chapter. Again I'm sorry it took so long to get it up. So what do you think?**


	23. The Botched Plan

**Everpresentpast:** Thanks for the review! I'm glad it made you feel better. Some stories do that for me too when I've had a bad day and they update haha. And I can't wait to read your story! I hope the program is helping. Email me if you need any help :)

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev:** I'm happy you liked my chapter. And that Mac and Annie part was completely made up when I was writing lol. I thought it would be sorta cool to have them trying to like be near each other and OC sitting in the middle, clueless to what is really going on. That part is basically symbolizing their relationship at this point lol. I'm really glad you liked it!

**Meadow567:** I was actually picturing Joshua Jackson in my head when writing this chapter. What can I say? Gotta love The Mighty Ducks haha. Thanks for the review :)

**Anna: **Thanks for reviewing. I hope you like my new chapter.

**Bluehaven4220**: Thanks for reviewing! Katherine and Charlie are a lot like Annie and Robbie, you're gonna see even more similarities in this chapter lol.

**AN: Thanks for reviewing everyone! I'm really happy you guys all liked it. I hope you all enjoy this chapter too. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I've been busy getting ready for my vacation. I leave today and get back like Monday the 27th or Tuesday the 28th. So I did leave a little cliffhanger. Luckily for you it's not the cliffhanger I originally had planned, that's coming up in two chapters and trust me it's a lot worse than this lol. Anyways, here it is. Enjoy! **

**Chapter 23**

The long weekend brushed by and long before everybody knew it, it was Monday morning. Herb wanted to get the team in early to make up for the time lost during the small vacation. Annie woke up pretty early that morning too. She hadn't seen or talked to her boyfriend since Thanksgiving because he spent the weekend with his family and they needed to talk. She explained to him on the phone everything about Katherine and Charlie and they both agreed that they should tell him soon.

"Hey Mac," she greeted him as she took a quick peek in the locker room.

Mac had been the first to arrive that day to practice so the two were alone.

"Annie, what are you doing here?" Mac asked shocked to see her.

"I gotta talk to Herb," she said, "I thought a lot about it over the weekend and we need to tell him-"

"I know," he interrupted, "We both agreed on it, remember?"

"Yeah. We need to tell him today. I feel so bad not telling my best friend something this important. It's bad enough his sister is going out with someone and not telling him and now his best friend too..."

"How then?" Robbie asked, sounding on board with the idea.

"Well..." before she could say anymore the locker room door opened.

Rizzo, Bah, and Mark all entered. They were a little surprised to see Annie in there, then they saw Mac too. Why would she be alone with Mac in the locker room?

"Hey guys," she quickly changed her tone and her conversation.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Rizzo greeted her.

"I'm looking for Herb. I just asked Mac where he was-"

"And I don't know," he finished her sentence.

"He's in his office," Mark told her.

"Thanks," she smiled.

"Why do you need to talk to Herb?" Bah asked.

"I'm able to go to Fargo with you guys," she told them.

'So that was her real excuse for being there so early,' Robbie thought to himself.

"Really?" Mac asked.

"Yeah," she quickly nodded. She felt pretty awkward about being there at this point, "I'll see you guys after practice."

"See ya"

"Bye"

"Thanks again"

After talking to Herb and leaving the hockey rink, Annie went to her Anatomy class. It was a lot less boring because Rachel was with her. They usually just talked anyways since they both learned that stuff while working for their undergrad.

"God, I'm so psyched for Winter break. This time next week I'll be packing for Florida," Rachel grinned.

"You're wicked lucky. While you're working on your tan I'll be finishing up the moving process and studying for exams," Annie sighed.

"Yeah I hear ya. I'm gonna study like nonstop when I get home," the blonde tried to make her friend feel better.

"I just can't wait to move everything out of the house. I mean I'll be sad and all that because I have to leave considering it's like my sanctuary away from satin roommate Joy, but I do want all this stress off," she told her.

"What are you gonna do with all your grandfather's stuff?"

"Well I'm gonna send some home but most I'll just leave in storage and my parents can deal with it. I'm seriously done..."

"Good for you. So have you heard from OC what happened?" Rachel asked.

Annie shook her head. She hadn't spoken to her best friend since Sunday morning, when he picked up Katherine and Charlie to drive to the airport. She would've gone too but she was visiting her grandfather.

"Your brother and his sister are going out!" she exclaimed.

Annie gasped. She already knew that and wasn't surprised, she just couldn't believe they told him. Katherine and Charlie weren't stupid they wouldn't do anything while OC was there.

"What?!?! How...?" Rachel cut her off.

"They told him when he was driving them to the airport. They said they didn't want to keep it secret anymore..."

"Well what did he say?" that's what Annie was really concerned with.

"Are you kidding me? OC was pissed. I mean Charlie is a good guy and all but you know how OC can get," Rachel said.

"Protective," Annie sighed.

"Yeah," she nodded.

Annie gave a half smile. They couldn't tell him now. Katherine and Charlie didn't want to say anything and Annie didn't know why they did. The weird thing was that OC likes Charlie, he treats him like a little brother, why would he be mad? Shouldn't he be happy that it's him rather than some asshole? OC was probably trying to let it set in first. He was pretty stressed about making the team and all and if it was normal circumstance he wouldn't care so much. That's what he needed, time. They needed to let him get used to Katherine and Charlie before he knew about Annie and Robbie.

With that idea Annie came back to the rink planning not to tell OC anything, yet. She needed to warn Robbie though. When she got into the locker room she simply mouthed, "Not today." Luckily he understood. He didn't look too happy but he wouldn't do anything to hint a relationship.

"So Conway, I heard you're coming to Fargo with us," Buzz said as she helped him stretch a sore muscle.

"Yeah," Conway smiled, "I'm pretty excited. It's right after I get out for Christmas vacation. I already have that night off at the bar and I booked a room in the same motel you all are!"

"Why are you so excited? It's just Fargo," Phil laughed.

"Travel of any kind is exciting for me these days, Verchota," Conway laughed.

"I know a couple good bars and restaurants to go there," Davey Christian added. He went to North Dakota, "Me and my friends would drive down to Fargo over the weekend sometimes."

"I don't know why we're staying over night," Mac said, "Fargo isn't that far away."

"The bus driver is too lazy to drive us back," Mark told him.

"Really?"

"Probably. He gets paid more for an overnight trip anyways."

After much speculation whether or not the bus driver was taking their money or not, Conway and OC left the locker room together. His car was in the shop and she offered him a ride home. It was going to be the perfect opportunity to find out exactly what happened when he found out about Charlie and Katherine.

"So Rachel told me you found out about..."

"Katherine and Charlie," OC cut her off, "They told me you knew too."

"They did?" Conway was worried.

"Yeah," he nodded, "It's alright though. They asked you not to tell me because they wanted to on their own."

"Yeah I'm sorry about that...So what do you think about it?" Annie asked.

"At first I was really pissed because they didn't tell me and stuff but then I thought about it and I'm okay with it," he told her.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he replied, "It's better him than some loser. And if he hurts her...well I know where he lives."

They were now at the car and before OC turned to take shotgun Annie gave him a big hug. She was so happy. This gave her some hope about telling him about she and Mac.

"What was that for?" he laughed when they separated.

"Just you being you. I'm so glad you're happy for them!" she exclaimed.

They both got in the car and she started it and they drove off. The red head was about to turn on the radio when OC took her hand. He really just wanted to talk.

"You know I'm not trying to be the big bad wolf here...I just don't want her to get hurt," he explained.

"I know," Annie gave a half smile, "But she's a big girl and can take care of herself."

"Yeah I know," he nodded, "Thank God you're not going out with anybody. I don't have to worry about you."

"Why would you have to worry about me? I'll be fine. I was fine on that date with Tom until you ruined it," she was a bit agitated.

"I said I was sorry,"he tried.

"Well I'm not going to be single forever and you're just gonna have to accept that," she told him.

"Are you seeing someone or something?"

"No!" she lied then came up with the courage to ask, "What would you do if I was?"

"Like who?"

"Like Mac," she replied, "What would you say if I was dating Rob McClanahan right now?"

"Come on, Conway! Be serious," OC groaned.

"How am I not serious? He's nice, and smart, and good looking. What would be so bad about me going out with him?"

"Everything," OC answered, "If you like him, I wouldn't like you."

"Well I don't," she sighed, "It was just a god damn hypothetical question."

"Good. I mean I can barely stand the guy. He's alright but you can do a lot better," OC told her.

"Ok thanks dad," she sarcastically replied.

The rest of the car ride home was in silence.

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That night Annie was working at the bar and keeping an eye on the cash register. The guys weren't sitting their so she didn't talk to them too much. It was the usual crowd, Rizzo, OC, Mac, Bah, Mark, etc. She and Mac both occasionally glanced at each other but Annie was too wrapped up in work. She was talking to a couple nice 30 something guys that were all regulars there. Of course nothing romantic was going on because they all were married and had families, it was just really nice for Annie to find some guy friends who weren't the guys on the team and who didn't want to get in her pants, even if they hang out only during working hours.

"Yeah my dad was a World War II hero!" one of them laughed.

"I thought he was a male nurse," they all cracked up.

"I'll prove it!" the guy told them, "Annie let me use the phone!"

Annie just let him brush by her and he picked up the phone.

"Hey Pa, weren't you a war hero?"

Annie was hysterically laughing, "You forgot to dial the number."

"Yeah I did!"

"No you didn't!" she was near tears, "All you did was pick up the phone and say hey Pa!"

"He called here!" her friend tried.

"Sure," she was calming down.

"Annie," her boss called out to her. She turned around to face him, "You have a customer. Do your job!"

"Sorry, won't happen again," she slipped a small giggle.

She walked over to the cash register and saw Robbie standing there. He was still obviously not too happy with her. He was fully prepared to tell them or at least ease the idea onto them and she blew him off.

"Hi," she was dead serious, as if none of the fun of before ever happened.

"Hey," he gave a straight face, "Here's the money. We're all leaving, we've got an early practice tomorrow."

"Can we talk?"

"About what?"

"About what happened..."

"Last time I checked nothing happened at all, Annie," he told her.

"Just meet me outside, behind the bar. My break is in five minutes," she told him.

"Why should I? How do I know you won't blow this off, like last time..."

"Please," she tried, "Just hear me out"

Robbie sighed, "I'll meet you out there in five."

"Thanks," she gave a soft smile.

Five minutes had passed. Annie walked out the back door of the bar to see nobody waiting for her. She looked around and saw nobody.

"What the hell, Mac?" she huffed in anger.

"Sorry I'm late," she heard a familiar voice.

Annie turned her head and saw Mac walk down the deserted ally to her.

"What took so long?"

"I had to get rid of the other guys. I lied and said I forgot my wallet in there so this has to be quick," he explained.

"Are they waiting for you?"

"No," the hockey player shook his head, "But if it takes me a while to get back home Mark and Bah might get suspicious."

"Ok," she nodded while she walked closer to him, "Look I'm sorry about today but it's not the right time to tell him."

"Why not?"

"Because he found out about Katherine and Charlie. And he was pissed. It's Charlie! He's practically brothers with Charlie and at first he didn't approve. He's getting more used to the idea now, but telling him about us...it would hurt him really bad," Annie said sadly.

"I'm sorry that he might not like it but we're both adults. He can't tell you who you can go out with or not," he tried to comfort her by stroking her arm.

She gave him a hug, "Please let's not tell him yet. Let's just wait a little while longer. Besides all this secrecy and stuff is a lot more romantic, ya know."

Robbie looked down at his girlfriend. She was pretty tall, only three or four inches shorter than him. Then he sighed and kissed her on the forehead, "Ok. A little while longer. I don't want to tell him just so he knows and it doesn't have to be a secret anymore. I wanna tell him for you. Even if we don't work out I just...I just need to know that you'll be okay in the future...you know."

She looked up at him and gave him a light kiss on the lips, "We are going to tel him you know. Just not yet."

The couple than shared a much more passionate kiss and began making out.

"What the hell is going on here?"

They quickly separated and looked at who interrupted them. It was a familiar face.

"Holy shit," Annie breathed.

**There it is. I hope you all liked it. Please review! And my next chapter will be up August 31st.**


	24. Surprises

**Meadow567**: Thanks for the review! I hope you like my new chapter :)

**Bluehaven422: **Thanks for reviewing. Sorry for the cliffhanger haha. I loved all your guesses tho lol.

**Anna: **Thanks for reviewing the chapter! You'll find out who it is very soon lol.

**Justlikewedo: **Thanks for the review :) Hope you like the new chapter!

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: **Thanks for reviewing. I'm happy you liked that part with OC and Annie. I wasn't sure if I should make it funny or dramatic so I sorta just mixed it and made it awkward lol.

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews! I loved everyones' guesses lol. Don't worry this chapter won't be left on a cliffhanger and you'll only have to wait until Wednesday, the 5th for the next chapter. I start back the next day and I'll be busy but I'm gonna try really hard to get that next chapter up by the weekend. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please review when you're done :)**

**Chapter 24**

"What the hell is going on here?"

They quickly separated and looked at who interrupted them. It was a familiar face.

"Holy shit," Annie breathed.

The person walked a little closer to the couple.

"Mark?!?! What are you doing here?" Mac asked his friend.

"I can ask you guys the same question. What was that back there?" Mark questioned back. The two could tell he was in shock.

Annie shrugged and looked up at her boyfriend. She didn't know what to say. That's why she was sorta glad not to tell OC. If she didn't even know what to say to Mark, what could she say to her best friend?

Before Annie could say anything Robbie stepped up, "Look, Magic, you can't tell anybody what I'm about to tell you...Annie and I are together."

"Yes, I can see that. How did this happen?...I thought you guys like hated each other..."

"Well we did, but now we don't..." Annie finally spoke up. She was a little nervous.

"You can't help who you fall for right?" Mac tried to joke.

"How long has this been going on?" Mark asked next.

"A couple weeks," Annie was guilty thinking about the length now, "But we've only really started it since you guys got back from Norway!"

"Come on, man, you gotta keep this a secret..."

"Why do you guys wanna keep it a secret so much?"

"Why do you think?" Mac sighed. Annie gave him a look.

"OC?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded.

"We just don't want hurt him. I'm his best friend going out with somebody he can hardly stand. He's stressed enough about the team..."Annie tried to convince him.

"Well they get along ok now," Mark told her.

"Yeah we talk hockey sometimes..."

Annie groaned, "Trust me. I know him, it's not a good time."

"Are you gonna tell him soon?" Mark inquired.

"Yes. We were gonna tell him today but we decided to wait," Mac said.

"Ok, I won't tell anybody about this. But when it blows up in your faces I don't know anything ok?" Mark said.

Annie gave him a hug, "Thanks Mark! Thank you so much!"

Annie still in the hug whispered into his ear, "I always wanted to tell you..."

They then let go, "Well I gotta get back to work."

She and Robbie shared a small kiss on the lips and when they let go they saw that Mark still hadn't fully processed what he just learned. He looked a little surprised and freaked out.

"Please, not in front of me. I still can't picture it..."

Mac and Annie both laughed.

"Bye guys," she smiled as she walked away.

"Bye," the hockey players said in unison.

Mac and Mark stood still in the alley.

"My car broke down, can you jump it?" Mark asked. So that was his real reason for sticking around.

"Sure, man," Robbie said. That was another thing he managed to get out of Shop class.

The two friends walked away from the bar in silence. Mark already had to process everything he just witnessed. Everything about them would be too much for one night.

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The next night Annie was again working at the bar. She was working the late shift that night and didn't expect to see too many of the guys. To her surprise she saw Mac, Mark, Bah, Rizzo, and OC enter the bar.

"Hey guys," she greeted them. She took an empty seat and sat down next to Rizzo. She was on her break.

"Hey," they all greeted back.

"Oh my gosh! Thirteen days until Fargo and no school left!" Annie gleamed.

"Conway, you're taking this Fargo thing way to seriously!" Jack laughed.

"Shut up, OC! I'm so pumped!"

"You shouldv'e gone to Boston with us instead. At least then you could've seen your folks," Rizzo said.

"No. You know me I hate flying," she blushed.

"Then how did you get to Minnesota?" Mac asked.

"I took a bus. And if I went with you guys I'd have to fly," she shrugged.

"Then how are you gonna go to Lake Placid with us? We're flying there too," Bah laughed.

"I know!" she laughed, "I'll just find other means of travel."

"Maybe you can drive," Mark joined in.

"Yeah, I could but my car is a piece of shit. It can barely get to St. Paul," Annie said.

Annie looked up at the clock. She then groan, "Ahhh. I gotta get back to work. Gotta empty that garbage. I'll see you guys later."

The waitress gave Robbie a quick wink that only he and Mark saw. She then got out of her chair and left the table.

A couple minutes later Robbie spoke up and said he had to go to the bathroom.

"The ones here are closed man," Mark covered for him, "You'll have to go next door."

"Thanks man," Robbie replied. He knew fully well they weren't closed even though they should be because they were pretty disgusting.

Robbie left the bar and went around the corner to the back alley where he saw his girlfriend trying to open the dumpster. She was tall but not tall enough to reach, even on her tippy toes.

"Need any help?" Robbie asked as he walked closer to her.

She turned to face him. She smiled when she saw him.

"As a matter of fact I do," she dropped the bags or garbage and walked closer to him

The two met and instantly locked lips. It seemed weird but Annie was right, keeping it secret wasn't half bad. It was even better now that only Mark knew. He could keep a secret and he could cover for them. After a minute of making out Annie stopped to take a deep breath. Mac still had his hands on her face and she still had hers on his.

"What excuse did you give this time?" she breathed.

"Bathroom in the restaurant next door," he told her.

"Nice,"she smiled, "You know what would be really romantic?"

"What?"

"If we weren't next to the dumpster," she laughed.

"True," he laughed with her.

They then let go of each other and walked a little farther away from the dumpster. Mac threw away her trash for her.

"You looked like you needed help," he mocked.

"Shut up!" she giggled.

"You free tomorrow night?"

"Yeah," she told him, "It's ok because OC is going out with Rachel."

"Good because I have a surprise for you."

"What?!" she got excited.

"If I tell you then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

"You do have a point. I hate that," she pretend to be upset.

"I'm sorry," he gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I think we should go. The guys will be asking about you and I gotta get back to work," she said a little disappointed.

"Yeah. You go in first," Mac told her, "I'll pick you up tomorrow at eight."

"Eight o'clock sharp?" she joked.

"You got it, kid," he laughed.

The couple then separated. They were getting more into the couple thing now that Mark knew. It seemed like it was ok for them to be together. Before it was a lot worse for them to try to be alone but now it seemed ok. Telling Mark was a really good thing. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all to tell OC.

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Mac picked her up at her grandfather's house at eight o'clock sharp, like they agreed on. She would've asked him in for a minute but they place was a mess. She only had a month left there and she needed to move all the stuff out.

"Put this on," Mac held up a blindfold bandanna.

"No way!" she exclaimed.

"Come on. It's supposed to be a surprise," he tried.

Annie sighed, "Fine."

She put the bandanna around her eyes and once it was secured Robbie started the car and drove off. It wasn't a very long car ride, only about ten minutes. Once the car was parked, Annie tried to take off her blindfold but Mac stopped her.

"Not yet!" he insisted.

"What? Are you trying to like kill me or something?" she was impatient.

"No," he told her, "Let me help you out of the car."

Before she could say anything she heard Mac get out of the car and the next thing she knew her car door was opened. He took her hands and helped her out of the car. They took a couple of steps and they entered a building.

Mac said, "Now you can take off the blindfold."

Annie untied the bandanna around her eyes and immediately recognized her surroundings. It was the arena where the guys practice and play games.

"Mac, what are we doing here?" Annie asked.

"We're gonna ice skate. It's perfect. Just the two of us, nobody around to find us," he hinted.

"This place is locked how did we get in?"

"I jimmied the lock," he told her.

Annie just shrugged looking around her surroundings as Mac left her for a second. He went to the renting booth and got two pairs of skates.

"Ok, got the skates," Mac said when he returned. From what he could tell she didn't notice he was gone.

"We can't do this..." she said softly.

"You look around a size nine, but if you need another..." he began to ramble.

"We can't do this!" she said louder. This time he stopped talking.

"Mac, we can't do this!" the red head tried.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because you broke in here and if we get caught..."

"Relax, Annie. Nobody knows we're here so nobody will catch us," he tried to explain.

"I still don't feel comfortable..." she said nervously.

"We'll be..."

"I CAN'T SKATE!" Annie exclaimed.

"What?" he was shocked. His jaw might've dropped a bit.

"I can't skate," she said a little softer in a more embarrassed tone than before.

"How can you not know how to skate?" he laughed, "You are from Boston, right?"

"Yes," she answered, "But I can't skate. When I was little my mom always used to take me to the Frog Pond to learn to skate but I never did. I always sat out. I hated it."

"Then how can you be best friends with OC and not know who to skate?" he joked.

"He doesn't know! Nobody does...except you now," she told him.

"How can you like hockey and date a hockey player and not know how to skate?" now he was just teasing her.

"Shut up!" she groaned.

"I'm just kidding," he laughed, "Just put on the skates anyways. I'll teach you how to skate."

"No way!" she protested.

"Why not?" he asked, "I'm a pretty awesome skater."

"Because I don't wanna make an idiot of myself in front of you!"

She turned around so she didn't have to face him. She didn't wanna fall on her ass like a thousand times in front of him.

"You won't! I promise I won't laugh!" he tried.

Annie turned to face her boyfriend and he looked pretty sincere. She sighed and said, "Fine. Let's go."

It took a while before Annie got the hang of ice skating. She held on to Mac for the first hour until she was finally able to handle skating around on her own. She fell many times but instead of feeling embarrassed she laughed at herself. Mac didn't want to be mean and laugh but when he saw that Annie was he did too.

After skating around Mac and Annie returned the skates they "borrowed" and cleaned off the ice so nobody would ever know. It still wasn't that late so Annie and Mac decided to go back to her place, despite how messy it was.

Mac couldn't believe the mess. At first he thought Annie was exaggerating a bit but she was fully right. This place was a sty.

"There are a lot of boxes in here," he yelled to her. She was in the kitchen and he was in the living room.

"Yeah I know. You and a couple of the boys better help me clear this out in a couple of weeks, over the Christmas break," Annie shouted back.

"It wasn't this messy when your brother came right?" he asked.

"No," she answered, "I just hid the boxes in the basement so it wouldn't be a mess."

"Ohhhh," he didn't really know what else to say.

"Mac, come in here," Annie yelled to him.

"Sure," he exclaimed as he walked from the living room to the kitchen.

He found her trying to make something to eat. She didn't have too much food left here. Mac walked up to her and hugged her from behind.

"Do you want anything to eat Mac?" she asked.

"Why do you still call me Mac?" he teased.

"Because that's you're name," she said in a duh tone.

"No that's what the guys call me. You're not one of the guys you're my girlfriend, Annie," he said.

"Ok then...Robbie," she laughed, "That was hard."

"Get used to it," he laughed.

He then started kissing her neck. She just laughed as he kept doing it. She then turned to face him and they began making out. She felt him beginning to take of her shirt and she started to unbutton his. They left the kitchen and laid on the couch not stopping for a single breath.

**Well there it was. I hope you liked it. It was my fluff chapter :) Next one is gonna be drama and thats the huge cliffy I was talking about. But I promise I won't be mean and make you wait long.**


	25. Killer Queen

**Meadow567: Lots of drama this chapter! Thanks for the review :)**

**Justlikewedo: Thanks for reviewing. I'm happy you were surprised lol, I tried not to make it OC because everyone was guessing him.**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the review. I'm happy you like Annie! I've tried really hard to make her not a Mary Sue and I'm glad you like it.**

**Anna: Thanks for reviewing. There's lots of drama in this chapter :)**

**Bluehaven422: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked it, enjoy the drama lol. **

**AN: Hope you all like this chapter. I start school tomorrow so I'll be busy but I'm gonna try really hard to get up the next chapter by the weekend. The cliffy is a big one and I don't want you guys to wait too long. I owe you guys that much. I promised that I'd update a lot more than I have but this summer I have learned it's a lot more about the quality of the story and my writing than how many chapters there are. This chapter is drama but I had to throw one or two funny parts in it, you'll read on later. Anyways here it is, enjoy!**

**Chapter 25**

A few days after Robbie and Annie spent the night together, Annie finally got out of school for Christmas break. She was so excited to finish up classes. She had some time to rest. Rachel left with some of her friends to go to Florida, leaving things with OC to be "on the rocks". As much as Annie hated school sometimes she would miss having Rachel to talk to in class. But they promised to sign up for all their classes together for the next semester.

Conway walked into the arena and passed by someone who was leaving. It was a boy and by the looks of it he was a hockey player. She had never seen him before and was really confused. Annie turned to give him a second look and saw that he was checking her out. She blushed and then walked quickly to the locker room.

"...That's my point." she heard Jimmy say as she entered the locker room.

"What's your point?" Annie asked.

The guys all looked up at her. They didn't even notice her enter. They all looked a little pissed off and worried. But most of all they looked scared. With a hockey player she never saw before leaving the locker room and those faces, something must be going on.

"Hey," she said a little awkwardly, "I saw some guy leaving when I came in. Do any of you know him?"

"His name is Tim Harrer. He's a Gopher," Ramsey told her.

"We're you guys practicing with them today?" Annie asked.

"No," Jimmy shook his head, "He's going out for the team now."

Annie didn't ask anymore. Another player going for it means two more are going to get cut. This was really bad.

Harrer being added really got everyone worried. Herb was riding their asses everyday in practice and this just made it worse. He was especially tough on Rizzo. He couldn't get the net, but he wasn't a bad player. Annie had known him for a couple of years and he's a really nice guy and a good leader, maybe that's what Herb saw in him when he made the cut in Colorado.

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"We have to do something," OC said.

After a home game some of them decided to go out to Mario's afterwards. OC, Annie, Rizzo, Mark, and to everyone's surprise he asked Mac to come too.

"He's messing everything up," Mac agreed.

"We should talk to Herb or something," Rizzo thought aloud.

"We should do it soon, before he cuts anyone," Mark told them.

"Bah told me that he was having a big year. He's a pretty good looking skater too. How are you guys gonna present this to Herb?" Annie asked.

"Well we're better looking skaters than him," Robbie got a bit defensive.

Mark quietly laughed at Mac's jealousy and Rizzo laughed too, but he thought it was because the way he exclaimed it was funny.

"It's too late to talk to Herb tonight," OC said.

"We should talk to him while we're in Milwaukee," Rizzo suggested.

"Why aren't you coming with us, Conway?" Mark asked, "Aren't you out on break?"

Annie nodded, "Yeah but I gotta work tomorrow night. Gotta save up money for Christmas presents."

"Still coming to Fargo with us?" OC asked.

"Wouldn't miss it," she grinned.

The boys left for Milwaukee the next morning and won the game against the IHL All Stars. Like they planned Rizzo, Mac, OC, and Mark talked to Herb about Harrer. Herb listened to them and decided to cut him from the line up, but reminded them that he needed to cut one more player. OC called Annie to tell her the news but she didn't pick up, probably because she was working. Mac called too a little later but there was still no answer. She must be working a double shift tonight.

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They came back the next day but didn't have practice. OC called Annie to ask her to come out with the team but she didn't answer. OC didn't worry though. She was probably busy with the final moving arrangements or visiting her grandfather in the nursing home. Besides she needed some rest after a long couple of months so he decided to call her another time.

The following day the team had practice. After showering off, Annie came in, a little later than usual.

"Hey," some of the guys greeted her. They were in a lot better spirits since Tim left.

"Hey," she greeted them quietly back, giving a half smile.

"Tim's gone," OC said happily.

"That's good," Annie nodded.

For the most part Annie was quiet as she helped some of the guys out. She was acting really different from her normally talkative self. Mac saw this but didn't know what to do. After some of the guys left Mac spoke up.

"So Conway," he was used to saying Annie by now, "Fargo tomorrow. You excited?"

He knew how excited she was about Fargo, God knows why. But maybe that would cheer her up.

"No," she answered, "I'm not going."

"Why not?" Mac was shocked. Everybody was. They knew how excited she was. "You've been planning this for weeks."

"Well plans change, MAC!" she said coldly, especially when she said Mac. She was practically mocking him when saying that since he asked her to call him Robbie.

By this time she was done helping out the guys and just stormed out of the locker room. None of the guys could believe that just happened. Her bad mood came out of no where.

"What was that about?" Mark asked.

"I have no idea," Mac replied.

"Well plans change, MAC!" Verchota mimicked in an odd shrilly girl voice. He and Silk laughed but some of the others weren't so amused.

"I'll talk to her later," OC said, "She's probably pissed because she's forced to work or something."

Mac was sorta pissed. She embarrassed him in front of everybody when he was just trying to help her feel better. Now he was sorta glad she wasn't going to Fargo. If she was in a pissy mood, he didn't want to deal with her.

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"Hey, we need to talk," OC said to his best friend.

He went to the bar before everybody else to find out what was up with Conway and maybe even cool her down a bit.

"Yeah, well, I'm working," she said coolly.

"Hey Joe!" OC shouted to her boss, "She's taking her fifteen minutes."

"OC what the-" her best friend cut him off.

"Come on," he took her arm and pulled her to the back where employees were only allowed.

"What's your problem, Jack?" she wasn't happy.

"Me? What's your problem? You exploded today after practice..." OC pointed out.

"I'm not in a good mood..."

"Why? Because you can't go to Fargo. Big deal! You miss one game, you've missed plenty already. Besides you said you needed the money..."

"NO OC! It's nothing you would understand!"

"What is it your grandfather?" he asked then he paused and slowly asked "Do you have your "lady parts problem"?"

"OH MY GOD!" she couldn't believe he actually said those words, "Get out of here right now!"

"Ok I'm your best friend I've been dealing with this since you first got it. I get it. Hopefully you'll be fine and it stops by the time we get back."

"Get out now!"she said, still in shock of what he said.

"Later," he nodded as he left her sight.

"Perfect," she sighed in frustration, "Now what?"

Annie went back to work. She was so pissed at OC right now for saying that. He was so awkward about it too. Like he would know! Luckily the guys were going to Fargo the next day. She couldn't deal with them after that.

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Annie wiped down the bar as she looked up at the clock. The guys were going to come by soon. They arrived back earlier in the day but Herb held a practice so they didn't have too much time for a rest. Hopefully they didn't come during her shift. She was still mad that she didn't go to Fargo but she couldn't, she was working and had so much on her plate.

Luckily she only had a half an hour left on her shift. She continued wiping down the surface when someone called out to her.

"Hey barmaid, can you serve me now?"

Annie looked up. She didn't realize that a new person came over. She already served everyone else who was sitting there.

"I'm sorry," the waitress apologized, "How can I help you?"

"Banana daiquiri," the girl ordered, "And make is snappy."

Annie rolled her eyes. She hated annoying customers like that. She just made it with a smile on her face. She was certainly no mood to start anything tonight.

"Here you go," Annie gave her the drink, "That will be three fifty."

The girl gave her a five and sighed, "Give me the change."

Annie reluctantly gave her back her change.

'What a bitch! Couldn't give me the change as a tip,' Annie thought to herself.

"Do you know Rob McClanahan?" the girl asked.

"Yeah," Annie nodded. She was a little confused.

"Well I'm his girlfriend, Jamie. Do you know when he's gonna come in?" the girl asked.

So that was Jamie. She wasn't going out with Mac, well not anymore. They broke up a long time before he got together with Annie. OC slept with her and said she was sorta annoying. If that was how she acted all the time Annie felt bad that Mac put up with it for so long.

"Robbie's a friend of mine and I know that you guys aren't dating anymore. In fact he hates your guts. So how about you do everyone a favor and get out," Annie was starting to get a bit defensive. She already has had a bad week, and this made it even worse.

"I know about you. You're Annie Conway, right?" the girl asked in a cool tone.

Annie nodded. She didn't know how she knew about her at all.

"Andrew told me about you. He said that you were hot. I always knew he had bad taste," Jamie said.

"Well I guess that explains why he went out with you," Annie retaliated.

"At least I get guys. You're just that lumberjack looking tomboy that everyone thinks is a really a man."

Jamie laughed and began to walk away when Annie spoke up.

"Jamie," she said angrily.

"What," Jamie turned around.

"You forgot your change," she yelled as she hit her in the face as hard as she could with the tray.

Jamie was knocked down and had a bloody nose. She got up and ran out of the restaurant crying. When someone was sad Annie was sympathetic, but this time. This time she was happy that she did that. Didn't feel bad at all. And that scared her.

"ANNIE!"

Annie turned around to see her boss. At this point a lot of the bar was caught up in the commotion. Several of her friends on the wait staff were shocked by what just happened.

"MY OFFICE! NOW!"

Her boss walked out of the bar area into the back and Annie followed him. They went into his office and he slammed the door shut.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?!"

"She deserved it!"

"SHE'S A CUSTOMER. IF SHE ACTS LIKE AN ASS JUST DEAL WITH IT. THAT'S YOUR JOB! WE'D BE LUCKY TO GOD IF WE DON'T GET A LAWSUIT!"

"WELL I'M NOT SORRY!" Annie exclaimed.

"Well then, honey, you're fired. Pick up your last pay check in the morning. I just want you out of my site!"

"FINE BY ME!"

Annie angrily left the office and slammed the door. She left her apron on the counter of the bar and put her tips in her pockets. She then walked out of the place not saying goodbye to her coworker friends or giving anybody eye contact at all.

The red head walked out to her car and tried to get it to start, but it wouldn't go. She tried a few more times until she gave up all together.

"FUCK!" she screamed on the top of her lungs. She couldn't believe it, she just got fired. How was she going to get money now? The only reason she kept it was to repair this rinky dink piece of crap she called a car. But now what?

Thinking about this entire horrible week made Annie want to ball. It began with her getting her boyfriend mad at her, her awkward talk with OC, then not going to Fargo, and now getting fired.

'Merry Christmas to me' she thought. That's another thing she had to worry about, Christmas presents. Christmas was only about ten days away and she hadn't gotten anybody gifts.

Annie got out of the car. She didn't want to be anywhere near the bar right now and decided to walk home. She only got to the end of her parking space when Robbie and Mark were there, just arriving to the bar.

"Hey," she said coolly as she tried to pass them. She didn't want to talk to anyone on the team, especially Robbie.

Robbie grabbed her arm and gently moved her back towards him. He had somewhat forgiven her when she was in Fargo.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said not too convincingly, "My car broke down so I'm walking home."

"Don't you still have some time on your shift?" her boyfriend asked.

"Well I don't have anymore shifts because I just got fired!" she yelled. It hadn't really sunk in yet until that moment.

"What!?!" Mark was the first to speak up this time, and he was shocked.

"What happened?" Robbie asked, a bit concerned.

"I don't wanna talk about it. I just wanna go home," she sighed.

"I'll drive you," Mac volunteered, "It's too cold to walk."

"Thanks," she said as she brushed past the two guys into the direction of Mac's car.

Robbie took a deep breath and left his friend to follow his girlfriend. She's been acting really mean and coldly for the past few days, even before she got fired. And he needed to know what was going on with her.

"So what happened today?" Robbie asked her while he was driving her home.

Annie didn't answered. Instead she uncomfortably shifted in her seat. She looked at the road straight ahead instead of looking at her boyfriend. She was in no mood to talk.

"Annie, why did you get fired?"

Again she didn't answer. He knew that she heard him and didn't bother to respond. He sighed and tried for a third time.

"Annie,what happened at the bar?" he asked losing his patience.

Annie again did not answer. Robbie groaned. Her bad mood was affecting everybody. And all of this because she couldn't go to a game in Fargo. That was ridiculous. Robbie knew the only way to get her attention. He pulled over right to the side of the road.

"MAC! What the hell are you doing?" Annie finally spoke up.

"What's been up your ass all week? Ever since we got back from Milwaukee you've been acting like a bitch. And now you got fired. What's going on with you? Is it because stupid Fargo because if you really want I'll take you up there sometime. There's nothing there anyways, so I don't know why you're bitching."

"Do you really want to know?" Annie asked coolly.

"I really want to know," Mac asked. He finally go through to her.

"I'm pregnant."

**There it is guys. I'm sorry for that. I feel mean now leaving it like this. I'll try to get the next chapter up by the weekend. Please review!!!**


	26. What Is and What Should Never Be

**Meadow567: Thanks for reviewing. And Jamie definitely deserved that right? Haha. Hope you like this one :)**

**Justlikewedo: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you were surprised! Sorry I made you wait longer than I said but it's a really long chapter!**

**Bluehaven4220: Thanks for reviewing. That chapter was really crazy lol! Jamie did deserve it though. Trust me that's the last of her!**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you were surprised about the ending haha. That was definitely a crazy chapter!**

**Anna: Thanks for the review! I'm happy you liked it and from the review I can tell you were shocked lol.**

**AN: Thanks everyone who reviewed and read it. I'm so so sorry I didn't put it up last weekend. I was so busy with school stuff. I just get back and they already pile stuff on me like crazy! Since it's now school time I'm gonna try my hardest to get one chapter up a week. I won't make any promises though, I broken too many already and all I can say is that I am very sorry. It's gonna take me some time to get used to school, but I'm still gonna try as hard as I can to get the next chapter up. Since I didn't make my promise this chapter is extra, extra long! Enjoy!**

**AN 2: You might be confused by the name of this chapter but that's my fault. By mistake, I named my last chapter what I was planning on naming this one. So I just changed my last chapter to what it was originally going to be called. Sorry for the confusion. **

**Chapter 26**

"I'm pregnant"

The color in Robbie's face drained. He couldn't speak. Even if he could he wouldn't know what to say. Those two words are a worst nightmare for just about every guy his age. He was only in his early twenties, how can he support a kid?

"Robbie? Did you hear me? I said I was pregnant!" Annie tried to get her boyfriend's attention.

He tried to find the words but nothing could come out. His jaw was a bit dropped. He nodded at her instead.

"Oh God!" she cried out in frustration as she hit her hand on the dash.

"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?!" Robbie finally screamed at the top of his lungs. Annie was even taken aback by his volume and tone. It was scary.

"You were there, Mac!" she cried.

"But how could this happen?...You're on the pill," he sighed.

"No I'm not!" she corrected, "You had a condom on, right?"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE ON THE PILL!"

"WELL I'M NOT!"

"WELL I DIDN'T WEAR A CONDOM!"

"OH FUCK!" she screamed. She let her head collapse into the dash as she cried. Mac just sat in his seat in utter shock. He couldn't even take it all in.

They sat in the car parked on the side of the road for a few minutes before one of them finally spoke up. It was Mac. Not looking her in the eye he asked, "When did you find out?"

"I find out tomorrow. I took the test when you were in Fargo," she got up and sniffled as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Well if you don't know you might not be pregnant at all!" he hoped to God.

"Mac, you don't get it. I skipped my period. My period has come every twenty eight days ever since I was fourteen years old. It didn't come at all!"

"You can't assume the worse. There might be some weird flub going on or something," Mac tried to think the positive.

"Robbie, we didn't use protection and now I skipped my period. I'm sorry if you can't seem to grasp this but I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant!"

"How do you know?" he yelled. He tried to make everything ok and she was so pessimistic about it, and it was really ticking him off.

"I just know!" she spat back.

"You're really stupid," he told her.

"I wouldn't be talking, Mr. I-don't-own-a-condom!"

"No wonder why you got fired you probably talked that way to your boss. You shouldn't talk back Annie," he said cruelly.

"Actually I got fired because I knocked out your ex-girlfriend with a tray. I felt bad that you were with her but now I think you deserved it!"

"You saw Jamie!?!"

"Yeah I did!"

"What did she say?"

"She was being a bitch! Now take me home!"

"What did she-"

"TAKE ME HOME," Annie cut him off.

Robbie not wanting to get into an even bigger fight than they already were right now obliged. The whole car ride was in complete silence. No radio, no talking, only the sounds of the road and their extremely heavy breathing. It was now setting in right at that very moment and they were so scared they couldn't even think about anything else.

When they finally pulled up to Annie's house she hesitated to get out of the car. She didn't want to be alone but she didn't want to be with him and she couldn't talk to anyone else about it.

"I'll tell you the results when they come in..." she said softly.

She opened the car door but Robbie lightly grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving. She looked back at him with a single tear drop in her eye. He looked at her with the same fearful expression on his face.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" he asked.

"No," she told him as she quickly took her arm out of his hand, "You've done enough."

She then got out of the car and slammed the door shut. She went inside to her grandfather's house. She couldn't deal with Joy tonight or anyone else in her building for that matter. As they were partying about the end of semester and Christmas, Annie was in her house by herself staying up all night thinking about what she would do if she was pregnant.

Mac stayed in the car parked in front of her house for a couple minutes. What was he going to do? His life was just beginning, what if a baby came? How could he take care of it? He could hardly take care of himself. Instead of driving back to the bar to catch up with Mark and the rest of the guys he decided to go home. He couldn't deal with them tonight. Robbie could try to go to bed but the thoughts of the baby would keep him up all night. He was in serious trouble...

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At the same time that Annie confessed to Mac about the pregnancy, all the guys were gathering into the bar. They were all hanging out for a couple of minutes when Rizzo noticed that Mac wasn't there.

"Hey," he directed his question towards Mark, "Where's Mac?"

"He's driving Conway home," he told him.

"Why?" OC spoke up, "Shouldn't she be working until ten tonight? She should still have like ten minutes left in her shift."

"Conway got fired," Mark said quietly.

"What?!?" OC couldn't believe it, "How?"

"I don't know. But we saw her leave the bar. She wanted to walk home because her car wasn't working but Mac offered her a lift instead," Mark caught him and the guys who were listening up to what he knew so far.

"Maybe we should ask someone what happened," Buzz suggested.

"Yeah, let's ask Wendy. She's really hot," Silky spoke up.

Wendy passed by their table only a couple seconds after Silk made his comment and Phil called out to her.

"Hey Wendy!"

The waitress turned around and saw the guys. She served them a couple of times and new that Annie knew all of them. Annie and she talked occasionally and she was really nice but they didn't see each other too much because they always had different shifts. But she was there tonight.

"Hey guys. Do you need a waitress?" she offered.

"No it's ok," Mark said.

"What happened to Conway? Why did she get fired?" OC questioned.

"Oh my god, you guys don't know!?" she was shocked.

"What happened? Is it good?" Silk tried.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I'll tell you like in two minutes. I'll ask if I can go on my break because this is crazy!"

"Great," Silk smiled then winked, "You can sit right here, next to me."

The blonde waitress came back a few minutes later in a rush. She sat between Silky and Jimmy.

"Ok I only have five so I gotta make this quick," she told them.

"Sure," Jimmy nodded, "So what happened?"

"Well," Wendy started off, "Annie was working over at the counter and then this girl came in and gave her a really hard time, and was impatient and didn't even give Annie a tip, which was really bitchy. But anyways she said something and Annie got all defensive and stuff and I heard some like awful stuff said back in forth...I wasn't very close so I didn't really hear much...but then the girl was about to leave and Annie smacked her on the face with a tray!"

"Holy crap!" Bah laughed, "Don't mess with her!"

"Yeah the girl like broke her nose I think. But get this, the girl that she hit in the face was Robbie McClanahan's ex-girlfriend, Jamie Vaughn."

"What?" Mark almost choked on his own beer, "She was here?"

"Yeah. I don't even know what happened or anything because I was serving people at a different end of the bar," she said, "Now I gotta go before I get fired too. I'll see you guys later."

"You can count on that," Silk shouted to her. She laughed, shook her head, and walked away.

"Well the mystery continues," Phil stated.

"What?" OC asked. He was pretty pissed off that Annie got fired, and it might be Mac's fault.

"Conway has been acting weird lately. And now her getting fired, something must be up," Phil pointed out.

"Yeah," OC nodded, "I'll ask her about it tomorrow. She's probably too pissed off to talk to anyone tonight."

The guys hung out at the bar a little more and noticed that Mac never showed up. Since they all knew of Annie and Jamie's fight they all assumed he was with Jamie finding out what happened from her side of it. The guys all knew he hated Jamie but why would Annie hate her?

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The next day Robbie almost showed up late to practice. He only got an hour or two of sleep. The hockey player stayed up almost the whole night thinking about what he was gonna do. He couldn't have a kid right now. It would ruin his life.

The guys all wanted to ask him about the fight between Annie and Jamie but he just shrugged them off and didn't speak at all.

On the ice he was like a completely different person too. He played a lot harder and more aggressive than ever before. Herb really liked it and told him to keep it up, but Mark as well as the team knew something was wrong. While most of the guys assumed it was the Jamie thing, Mark thought it was something between he and Annie. He knew for a fact that the fight between Jamie and Annie wasn't over some stupid bill or something, it was about something much bigger and only he would know that.

The guys continued joking around with Mac, trying to get him to speak up about the fight between Annie and Jamie. By this point they all assumed he saw Jamie last night instead of going to the bar to hang out with them.

"So did she have a broken nose?" Silk laughed.

"C'mon man you can tell us," Verchota pushed it.

Mac shrugged and shook his head. The last thing he needed to hear was his friends needling him. He just needed space and for them to back off.

"Was her face big and purple?" Pav joined in.

"JUST FUCK OFF!" Mac yelled at his teammates. They were all pretty taken aback by it. First Annie was in a bad mood, and now him. She must be passing on a bad attitude to everyone she spends time with these days.

Before anybody could say anything else Annie walked into the locker room. She didn't look very good either. She had very heavy bags under her eyes showing that she had very little sleep. The red head also looked pretty sloppy too, wearing her hair in a very messy bun and she had on lose wrinkly old clothes. Annie pretty much looked like what she did before she had her 'make over'.

The guys already knew about her bad mood and after Mac's little scene they decided the best thing to do was not to talk to either of them. The guys said they were ok and didn't need her help and instead of just helping them anyways or hanging out in the locker room with them, she looked a little thankful and relieved.

OC watched her closely. His best friend looked like a mess. He knew that he had to talk to her later. They told each other everything, that's why they were best friends. If she had a problem or needed someone to vent to he'd be there.

Right before leaving the locker room Annie looked over at Mac, OC turned his head and saw him looking at her. Their exchange left OC very confused. Her bitchy attitude, yelling at Mac in the locker room, skipping Fargo, getting fired because she fought with Mac's ex-girlfriend, and ever since Mac gave her a ride home he's been in the same bad mood as Conway. He needed to know what was going on. After the team meeting he would go to Annie's dorm and ask, or better yet he'll ask Mac first. He knew exactly what was going on and maybe is involved in it.

The team meeting didn't take very long. They only reviewed some footage from the Soviet team and talked about a play they'd be trying out the next day. OC left the arena purposely at the same time with Mac to talk to him.

"Hey man, you alright? You were acting weird all day today," OC tried.

"I'm alright," Mac lied.

"Did you talk to Conway last night? I head you drove her home," OC said.

"Yeah I did. We didn't really talk though. She just told me she got fired because she got into a fight with Jamie, that's all," Mac answered quickly. He was really tired of everyone asking about last night. It wasn't their business.

"Did she tell you _why _that fight happened?" OC got to the point.

"No!" Mac answered without hesitation, "Why would she tell me? I'm not her best friend, you are, remember?"

Mac then just walked away. He didn't want to be interrogated by OC. It was practically his fault they got into that stupid mess. If their relationship wasn't a secret than they would've never went ice skating, which means they would've never gone back to Annie's grandfather's house. That was the way that Mac thought about it and he knew they should've told him. It's a little too late to let it off easy now.

The hockey player arrived back to his apartment to see that Mark was already there. Not even wanting to speak to his best friend he walked quickly through the living room trying to get to his room but Mark stopped him.

"Man, we need to talk," Mark told him.

"We don't need to talk about anything, man," Mac coolly replied.

"What's wrong with you?" Mark almost yelled. He finally spoke up for himself, "First Conway, now you! There is something weird going on between you and since I'm the only one that knows anything about this I need to know...or else I'll tell the whole team you guys are going together."

"Don't talk to me man. This is a lot bigger than you would ever think about!"

"TRY ME!"

"Annie's pregnant!"

Mark had almost the same reaction that Mac did. His jaw dropped slightly and the color faded a bit from his face. He just thought they got into a fight, he didn't think it was this serious.

"What? How could you let this happen man? You're life is just beginning. You can't have a kid!"

"Don't you think I know that!" Mac shouted at him.

Mac sat down at the couch a couple feet away from Mark. He put his head in his hands and pulled the hair out of his face. The two best friends sat silently on the couch. Mark just let in the idea that Mac and Annie were going out and now they would be having a kid.

"What does Annie think about all of this?" Mark asked.

"What?" Mac lifted his head up.

"How does Annie feel about this?"

"I don't know!"

"How do you not know!?!"

"BECAUSE I HAVEN'T ASKED HER!" Mac was getting frustrated, "I CAN'T HAVE A KID! I CAN'T! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO MAN?"

"Talk to ANNIE!" Mark yelled back at him, "That's your problem right there man. You've been too busy thinking about how much this kid is gonna ruin your life to think about her!"

"Look, this is all just too much for me right now! I tried talking to her but she wouldn't have it. She doesn't even know if the test is positive. She just skipped her period," Mac told him.

"Well that means you guys don't know for sure. The test could be negative..." Mark tried.

"I tried to tell her that but she didn't listen!" Mac exclaimed.

"That's because she's really scared, man. You guys are on the same boat. The test maybe positive or it could be negative, but if she is pregnant she is really gonna need you and you need to step up to the plate," Mark told him.

Mac thought about his best friend's advice and he was right. Annie was under just as much stress or maybe even worse than his. If she was pregnant he needed to do the right thing, for her, himself, and for the baby.

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After his confrontation with Mac outside the rink OC went to Annie's dorm, only to learn that she wasn't there. He then tried her grandfather's house and saw her car. He knocked on the door and it took minute for her to answer.

"Hi," she said unemotionally.

"Hey," he gave a half smile, "You look like you could use a best friend right now."

"Thanks," she sadly smiled back.

The red head let her best friend into her house full of boxes. The living room by this point was mostly empty except for the sofa, a tv, and the phone sitting in the middle of the room, with boxes surrounding all the walls. From what OC could see was that she stayed in here all night and day, either watching tv or waiting by the phone.

"Have a seat while you still can," Annie nodded towards the couch.

OC sat down and Annie went into the kitchen and came back in with two cold sodas. She sat on the couch with him and didn't say anything. OC would be the first to speak up.

"Look, I know that you've had a rough semester with your job, and school, and seeing your grandfather, and dealing with us...but I thought that since your semester was over you'd be a lot less stressed and just chill the last few weeks before Christmas. But lately you've been acting differently and I know you. Something is up. Now tell me whose ass I have to kick..."

Annie just starred at him. He was being so sweet right now during this. A lot better than Mac was, but then again OC didn't know the truth. She could've told him everything and to kick Robbie's ass immediately but she didn't. She just looked at her best friend and started to cry. All the pressure about everything was getting to her. Her secret relationship, school, gramps, and now a baby. She couldn't handle all of it.

She collapsed in OC's arms. At first he was a little confused and taken aback by her response but didn't want to disturb her. If she needed to let her feelings out this way he would let her. He hugged her and tried to find out what was going on.

"Come on Conway. You know I'll always be here for you. What's going on?"

Annie heard what he said but pretended not to. She thought for a minute of a response she would say. Should she tell the truth? She was in way too deep now to tell him in a kind way that she was sleeping with a guy he can't stand. Annie didn't want to push away the only good thing in her life, her best friend, right now.

"It's my gramps," she lied and sniffled, "He's not doing so great..."

OC sighed, he understood completely. That's what he originally thought, even before Mac was acting weird. She probably told him that that was what she was stressing about and he didn't get it and they just got into a stupid fight or something like that. That would explain his bad attitude today at practice.

"You know Conway, your gramps has lived a very long and happy life. And when it's his time, it's his time and I'll be here for you if and when it is because I'm not going anywhere," he told her.

"You promise? Even if we get into a terrible fight or you're off in a different part of the country playing hockey?"

"Yeah, I'll be here for you," he promised.

He had never seen her this scared looking or vulnerable before and that scared him. A couple days ago he got a call from Chicago. He was drafted to them a few years ago and would've played for them after college but then he got caught up in all the Olympic stuff. They called to ask if he would be playing with them after the games and OC didn't turn them down. But with him leaving for Chicago that would mean Annie would be all alone in Minnesota, except for Rachel, whom he was thinking about asking to join him in the Windy City before things got "rocky". He certainly didn't like the idea of her being alone, especially with her grandfather getting in worse and worse condition each day.

OC stayed with her a bit longer until she insisted that he should leave so she could get some sleep. He agreed that she needed some rest and thought that he should think of a kind way of telling his best friend about his departure after the games, so he left her to get some sleep.

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**Knock, Knock, Knock**

Annie woke up to that noise. Too out of it to know what it was, she instantly grabbed the phone.

"Hello"

All she heard back was a dial tone. She sighed as she sat down the phone, now remembering everything that was happening right now. She rubbed her eyes to try to wake up when she heard the noise again.

**Knock, Knock, Knock**

By this point she knew that it was the door. With one quick stretch she answered the door to the last person she wanted to see, but the first person she needed to see, her boyfriend, Robbie McClanahan.

"Hey," he greeted, giving a half smile very similar to her best friend's from earlier that day.

"Hi," she replied.

"Can I come in?"

"I guess," she sighed.

Annie opened the door wider so that Robbie could get inside the house. Then she shut the door. Rather than OC, who sat down, Robbie stayed standing. So did Annie.

"Did you find out yet?" he asked a bit anxiously.

"No not yet. I just woke up...I took a nap," she explained.

"Good," he nodded, "You should rest."

Robbie was acting a lot different since she last saw him. He was a lot more calm and relaxed then before. He still looked as scared as hell but he didn't take it out on Annie.

"Yeah," she agreed, "OC came by earlier today...I lied to him and told him my gramps was stressing me...I feel awful lying to him."

Mac nodded, "He talked to me too but I didn't know what to say so I just left... Then Mark asked me about it."

"And?" she questioned. He was the only person that knew about them and she didn't know whether Robbie would tell him anything or not.

"I told him..." he confessed.

"WHAT?" If Robbie told Mark then that would mean this was all really happening, that this was all very real and not some horrible dream.

"Listen!" he tried, "He got me thinking about everything and I'm sorry that I was being an ass before. We're both stressed over this and I shouldn't of taken it out on you."

"WHY IS IT THAT YOU CAN TELL YOUR BEST FRIEND BUT I CAN'T TELL MINE?" Annie yelled.

"BECUASE YOU CHOSE NOT TO!" Robbie screamed back.

"Listen to me! If this test is positive then we need to do the right thing. If it's positive then we should get married," he tried to calm her down.

"GET OUT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She couldn't have a kid, she couldn't get married. This was all happening way too fast.

"I'm not going anywhere!" he told her.

"GET-" Robbie cut her off.

"I'm not leaving. You can scream and cry all you want but I'm not leaving you. Not tonight," he said sternly.

At first his calm attitude made her more upset and angry but now seeing him really take a stand made her feel a little better. She wasn't going to be alone in this. Even though they barely knew each other and were way to young to get married she knew that he was sincere and that he'd be there.

The couple stood in the living room for a moment silently before Annie spoke up.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"You're welcome."

"I guess we need to tell everyone now, huh?" she gave a small chuckle.

"Guess so," he sighed giving a half smile.

The two were now calm and sat on the couch waiting for the phone to ring. She was told that she'd find out that day and she's been waiting by that phone all day with the exception of going to the rink, but that didn't even count because that was the hour of the clinic's lunch break.

**RING, RING, RING**

Annie and Robbie both looked at each other. This was it. This phone call could change their lives forever. Annie took a deep breath and picked up the phone.

"Hello...yes, this is she...ok...ok...thank you," she spoke in the same tone the entire time so Robbie couldn't tell what the verdict was.

She hung up the phone and looked over at Robbie. She gave a big smile, "I'm not pregnant!"

Robbie sighed in relief. It was like for those twenty four hours that the weight of the world was on his shoulders and they were just taken off. He got up and gave Annie a huge hug. She hugged him tightly back and he lifted her up in the air. Neither of them had been so happy in their lives. Annie even cried tears of joy she was that happy.

"Thank you so much for being with me tonight," she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"I'm sorry I was being an ass. You didn't deserve that."

Annie then hugged tighter than before, "I'm sorry I'm just so happy."

"It's ok," he laughed.

"Ok," she breathed, "Now that that's over no more sex..."

"Yeah no more sex without a condom..."

"No, I mean no more sex all together," she corrected him.

"I'm sorry, what?" he teased.

"Robbie," she laughed giving him a light hit. She was way too happy to get angry at that point.

This was a real lesson to them. From then on they took their relationship slower. Getting to know each other a little more before doing anything they would regret or what could affect them for the rest of their lives. As much as they wanted to forget about that awful time they knew they couldn't. These twenty four hours were as stressful and awful as hell but in the end it only made their relationship even stronger, which meant it would be harder to break...


	27. Somebody to Love

**Meadow567: Thanks so much for the review :)**

**Bluehaven4220: Yeah Annie nor Robbie would be ready for a baby or marriage for a while haha. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Justlikewedo: Thank goodness for the negative result but when OC finds out about everything that's gonna be a very nasty shock(with lots of drama)! It's coming up soon though!**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: OMGSH thanks so much for the long review lol. Anyways, the OC finding out part will be very soon and it will have lots of drama! And I'm glad you liked Robbie at the end, he was being a butt-head so I thought he needed to redeem himself.**

**Anna: Thanks for reviewing!**

**AN: Well here it is. This is pretty long too, which actually surprised me. Originally this was gonna be the Christmas chapter but then I had to have all this build up and stuff so I decided to make them two stand alone chapters. I'm not making any promises but with the long weekend coming up I'm hoping to work on the chapter. Again, no promises! Anyways thanks everyone who reviewed and here's the new chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 27**

Days after all the events that happened with the big pregnancy scare everything was finally getting back to normal. Annie and the guys were alright again, mostly because OC told them her bad attitude was brought on by stress from her grandfather. Mac was much happier now then he was after getting home from Fargo. The guys never asked him why he blasted them in the locker room but they just assumed it was because of Jamie and left it at that.

"Hey. Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!" Annie excitedly exclaimed as she entered the locker room after a practice.

"What? What? What?" OC replied back, mocking the red head.

Conway pretended to get offended, "Well I don't wanna tell you my super awesomely amazing news now!"

"Fine by me," OC joked.

"I'll tell Rizzo then because he wants to know!"

"Yeah," Rizzo laughed.

Annie walked over to him and whispered something into his ear. Rizzo nodded while he heard her and then gave her a high five when she was done with her story, "Congratulations!"

"What is it?" OC asked.

"You didn't want to know remember?" Annie teased, "Now only Rizzo can know because he's my buddy."

After saying this she winked to Robbie and he quietly laughed. He knew she'd tell him later. She seemed really excited about it, which was good because she needed some good news right now.

"Now I wanna know!" OC pretended to be hurt.

"Well actually my entire day has been like a story but you didn't want to hear about it so I'm not gonna say anything..."

"Oh come on! Now we all wanna know!" Bah joined in.

"Yeah tell us, Conway," Pav laughed.

Annie finally gave in. She was too excited to keep it in any longer, "Fine because you all wanna know I'll tell you!...I got a new job!"

"Wow"

"Congratulations!"

"Awesome!"

"What are you gonna be now? Still working as a waitress?" Mac asked.

"Oh God no!" Annie laughed, "I'll tell you the story. I was visiting my grandfather today and I ran into an old friend of his, who I've met a couple of times. Anyways, he told me he was looking for someone to work at his store part time so I told him I was looking for a job and he offered it to me!"

"That's awesome," Buzz said.

"Yeah and it's perfect! The hours are great. I work after classes or in the mornings, no more nights! And I don't have to serve people or anything which is really great because I hate people," Annie laughed.

"The sad part about that is that it's true," OC agreed, "I was surprised when you told me about be a waitress because you don't like people that much."

"Yeah I can see that!" Silk joked.

"Me too," Verchota agreed.

"Shut up!" Annie giggled, "Wait! I'm supposed to be helping you guys! Any one needs help like stretching and shit?"

"No I think we're all set with stretching and shit," Coxy teased.

"Ok," Annie smiled as she plopped down onto the bench next to OC.

"So did you go Christmas shopping for all of us today?"Jimmy asked.

"No! I have like no money," Annie told them.

"You should join our Secret Santa then. It would be perfect because you would make it even with twenty two," Mark suggested.

"Good idea! Thanks Magic!" Annie smiled. That would totally take the stress of buying a million gifts off. Now she would only need it for her secret Santa, OC of course, Rachel, Doc, Herb, Craig, and Robbie.

"It's really sad actually because I'm not even buying my parents anything," Annie laughed.

"WHAT!?!?" OC was shocked, "How could you not buy Shawn and Colleen anything?"

"No! They deserve it! They didn't even buy me a ticket home for Christmas because I'm supposed to finish clearing out the house!"Annie exclaimed. She angry at them sure but her gift to them would be moving the house out, besides she wanted to be in Minnesota for Christmas.

"You should fly back with me. My parents love you more than they love me," OC said.

"That's so true though, your parents like me better than you!" Annie joked, "But I can't because Rachel is flying out here for the holidays too, so we're gonna spend it together."

"She is?" OC's voice sounded different.

"Yeah," Annie nodded, "It's actually really sad and sorta funny in a way, but she went back home and her parents left a note on the door saying they went to Switzerland for Christmas this year and she couldn't even get into the house because her parents changed the locks."

"That's horrible," Rizzo said.

"I know. But sorta funny too," Annie giggled.

"Yeah it is actually," Silk laughed with her.

"You two are horrible people," Coxy joked along.

"Yeah, well I'm supposed to go pick her up from the airport in like five minutes, so I should stop laughing," Annie tried.

"I'll pick her up instead," OC offered, "I gotta talk to her anyways."

"You sure?" Annie asked, "I thought you two were 'on the rocks'"

"Yeah that's what I gotta go talk to her about," OC said finishing up quickly then he had the entire time he was in the locker room.

"Ok. Drop her off at the house because we're crashing there until the New Year," Annie told him.

"Alright," OC nodded as he picked up his bag, "Later guys."

With that he left the locker room.

"Ten says they get back together," Silk proposed.

"No bet..."a couple of the guys and Annie said in unison.

"Whatever, when are we picking names for Secret Santa?" Annie asked.

"Now," Bah said, "Can you write everyone's names out so we can pick from a hat?"

"Jeez, I have to do everything..." Annie joked.

After picking out the names, with Annie getting Rizzo and Robbie getting Silk, everyone left the locker room.

"Anyone need a lift home?" Conway offered.

"My car is at my brother's. Can you drive me over there so I can pick it up?" Mac asked.

"Sure..."Annie nodded.

"Mac, we can give you a ride man," Bah told him.

Before Mac could say anything Annie spoke up, "Oh no, it's no trouble. I really don't wanna go home yet anyways. I'm too lazy to move boxes out."

"Sweet. Let's go," Mac said.

The two left a very confused Bah and a surprised Mark, who didn't think they would be that clumsy about making plans together. It was obvious that Bah was getting a bit suspicious.

"So where's your car really?" Annie laughed as she drove out of the parking lot.

"I think you know where," Mac joked.

The two had spent the night together at Annie's house. But Annie still was freaked out by the big scare so they just watched tv, ordered a pizza, and stayed up most of the night talking. When asked by his roommates he said that he spent the night with his brother and his car didn't work that morning so his brother gave him a ride.

"Yeah, you have to move your car before Rachel and OC come over," Annie told him.

"That might be a while," Mac said.

"Still you should move your car out. I saw AAA come this morning to fix your car after I dropped you off. You said you were at your brother's right?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded, "But you're a lot better looking than my brother."

"Thanks," she gave him a quick peck on the cheek at the red light.

The light turned to green and Annie took off again.

"So who did you get for Secret Santa?" Mac asked.

"I got Rizzo," Annie smiled, "Which is good because I already know what I'm getting him. How bout you?"

"I got Silky and I have no clue what to get him.." Mac confessed.

"I'll help you with his gift," Annie offered, "I'm gonna go Christmas shopping tomorrow night. You should come, 'just as friends' of course."

"Really? Won't you be hanging out with Rachel?" Mac questioned.

"Yeah but I'll just tell her I'm getting her gift and I'm helping you. Besides, she'll probably be with OC anyways," the red head tried.

"Ok," Mac nodded, "It's gonna be weird telling everyone we're going just as friends. I'll have to say that you're helping me with all my gifts."

"Yeah like I'm the expert on the mall all of a sudden," Annie joked.

"I really love how we call it Secret Santa even though it's only that one gift that we exchange at Doc's Christmas party," Mac laughed.

"I know. I bet everyone will know who has who by like tonight," Annie laughed with her boyfriend.

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OC drove over to the airport only to discover that Rachel was already there, waiting for Annie at baggage claim. OC tried to surprise her, to cheer her up, by placing his hands over her eyes.

"What took you so long Con..." She stopped mid question when she saw who it was, "Jack."

"Hey," he nodded, "Heard about your Christmas change of plans..."

"Yeah," she nodded coolly. She left for Florida at a weird place in their relationship.

"I'm sorry," he told her.

"Me too," she then surprised him with a hug, "Thanks for coming."

"Anytime..."

After that the couple caught up. She told him about going to Florida and spending her time on the beach and he told her about the team,

"So Harrer is definitely gone right?" a concerned Rachel asked.

"Positive. Me, Rizzo, Magic, and Mac talked to Herb," he reassured her.

"Good," she smiled, "You deserve to get on the team. Besides come February I wanna cheer for my boyfriend in the stands of Lake Placid."

"So we're going out?" OC asked. He honestly didn't know the answer. They always broke up and got back together but was just the way they were and even though it was weird OC liked it.

"Yeah," she nodded, "That fight was stupid. We both said things we shouldn't of."

A couple nights before Rachel left for Florida, she and Jack got into an argument because OC didn't want her to go. He told her that she didn't want her to cheat on him while she was away, even though he knew she wouldn't. Thinking it over OC realized that he didn't want her to leave. Rachel then accused him of wanting to cheat on her, which he said he wouldn't. After an hour of fighting she stomped out of his dorm room in a rage.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Me too," the blonde gave a half smile.

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Once Rachel got to Annie's house they spent the entire time talking about their past few weeks. Rachel seemed exhausted by all her traveling and Annie wasn't very active herself so they decided to stay the night in, which was a nice change for once.

"I can't wait until exams are over," Rachel shrugged.

"Yeah me too," Annie agreed, "But if we follow the study schedule we made then we will both do great. And after all this requirement crap is out of the way we can focus on the specialties we want to pursue."

"Any idea about what you wanna do yet?"

"Not a clue," Annie sipped her drink, "How about you?"

"Same here," Rachel groaned, "I hate school."

"Don't we all," Annie half laughed.

"Whatever enough about that," Rachel changed the subject, "Where are we going out tomorrow night?"

"Wh...what?" Annie asked. She still hadn't told her about her plans with Robbie.

"C'mon Annie, you don't expect to spend our entire break at home. We should go clubbing tomorrow night. Girls only. We can ask like Marguerite and a couple of your friends from the bar. It'll be fun," Rachel persuaded.

"I can't," Annie told her, "I already told Robbie that I'd help him with Christmas shopping tomorrow night."

"Robbie? Whose Robbie?"

'Crap,' Annie thought to herself. She meant Mac but Robbie accidentally slipped out. She never called OC, Jack, except when she was mad at him.

"I mean Mac," Annie tried to fix.

"You're going out with Mac tomorrow night?!" Rachel was shocked.

"Yeah," Annie nodded then tried to redeem herself, "I mean we're not like great friends or anything but in the gift exchange thing he picked Silk and I know him better than he does."

Rachel nodded. She looked very skeptical, "Sure..."

"What?" Annie asked a little too quickly and nervously.

"Do you like Mac?" she went to the point.

"NO! Of course not!" Annie answered.

"Yeah right," Rachel teased, "You like him."

"No I don't," Annie tried. She tried her hardest to sound convincing.

"Sure you do," Rachel laughed, "If you didn't then you wouldn't be blushing."

Annie felt her cheeks. She had been blushing and hadn't realized it. Her freckled face turned to a deep shade of red in front of her friend's eyes.

"NO I don't! Seriously just stop it!" Annie was serious. She didn't want to be interrogated any longer, even if it was only jokingly.

"Ok. Ok," the blonde stopped, "Jeez...I get it. You don't like him. I'll just make plans with Jack instead."

"Good."

Annie wanted to tell Rachel, she really did. It would have just made things worse. She was going out with OC so if Annie told her it would've been bad either way. Rachel could tell OC, since she wasn't very good with keeping secrets, or she wouldn't and if OC found out that Rachel knew then he would break up with her for good. Either way it was a lose/ lose situation. It was best to only have Mark know for now.

Meanwhile Mac, Mark, and Bah were getting ready to go out that night. They and a few of their teammates were planning on meeting at the club a little later. That night was a little celebration for them because they had no more games until after the New Year. They still had a few more practices but after that they had over a week to just relax.

"Hey do you guys wanna see The Jerk tomorrow night?" Bah asked.

"Yeah," Mark nodded, "I heard it was pretty good."

"Oh no, I can't guys," Robbie said.

"Why not?" Bah questioned.

"I'm going to the mall with Conway," Robbie explained, "She's helping me with Silky's gift."

"Ohhhh," Mark understood then tried to change the subject on Bah, "We should ask Buzz and Davey if they wanna see it with us. I heard them talking about it in the locker room..."

"Why are you going with Conway?" Bah didn't want to let this go. The two of them have been acting weird lately and he wanted to know what was up.

"When she drove me to my brother's place she asked me who I had and I said I had Silky and had no idea what to get him so she offered to help me out since she was going Christmas shopping tomorrow night anyways. She knows Silky a lot better than me so she would know what to get him," Mac told him.

"Are you guys going out?" Bah got straight to the point.

"No," Mac quickly denied, "We're going just as friends."

"They can't be going out anyways," Mark jumped in to aid his friend, "Because if he was we'd know about it. We are his roommates after all."

"Uh huh," Bah skeptically nodded.

Mac looked up at the clock. They were running late.

"We better go," he told his roommates, "We're meeting them in like fifteen minutes."

"Yeah let's go," Mark nodded.

The two of them left the apartment with Bah coming slowly behind them. Bah was sure that something was going on between them and he wanted to know what.

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The following evening Mac and Annie went to the mall. The guys were pretty surprised that they would go to the mall together, especially since Conway wasn't exactly a shopaholic that some girls like Rachel were. OC and Rachel were going out to eat that night so OC didn't make a big deal out of it, especially because she said he was helping him with Silk's gift because she knew him better than Mac.

Annie and Mac walked around the mall, with Robbie holding all her bags.

"I thought you were only getting a few gifts," Mac told her.

"I did!" Annie tried.

"Seems like a lot more than a few," Robbie said.

"Well that's because I got Rachel a coat, silly!"

"That explains it," then Robbie asked, "So what do you think I should get Silk? A baseball cap or something?"

"No," Annie laughed and shook her head.

"Then what?" he laughed along, not knowing what she was thinking.

Annie nodded to the store right in front of them, the lingerie store, "You should get Silky some silky lingerie."

"What?" Robbie nervously laughed out loud, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Wow," Robbie breathed.

"What?" Annie smiled, "I can think like a boy. And it's funny too. Just get him that, it's like the perfect gag gift!"

"Ok," Robbie nodded, in a little disbelief, "You go in and get it."

"Me? It's your gift!"

"Yeah and it's your idea. I don't know what to get and if we go in together people might get the wrong impression."

"How would I know what to get?"

"You're a girl!"

"So?"

"You'd know what to get!"

"Fine," she gave in.

Robbie gave her twenty five dollars and she went inside the shop. She came out about ten minutes later she came out of the store with a pair of purple panties.

"How much did it cost?" Robbie asked.

"About ten," his girlfriend replied.

"Where's the change?"

"I got a little something for myself," she winked.

"Really? What did you get?" Mac asked suggestively.

"Not until New Years," Annie whispered into his ear.

Mac pretended to be hurt but Annie just walked off and Mac followed. They went to a couple more stores, the food court, then back home.

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Rachel and OC went out that night to a really nice restaurant. After Annie told her that she was going out with Mac, Rachel decided to spend the night with Jack. When she told him he told her it was a good idea because he needed to talk to her about something important.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" Rachel laughed as she sipped her wine.

"I'll tell you during desert," Jack gave his infamous grin.

"Gross, I have to wait like five courses," his girlfriend grew impatient and her thick New York accent was really coming out.

"It's worth the wait," he laughed.

"I hate you!" she exclaimed.

"Whatever change of subject," OC then said, "Did you hear about Mac and Conway going to the mall?"

"Yup," she nodded, "It's weird though, they never seemed very close."

"She told me it was because she was helping him pick out Silky's gift."

"Same here," the blonde girl replied, "She's just being nice though. In reality the two aren't even that close."

"Yeah," OC was reassured, "You're right. I just don't want her going out with Mac. She deserves better."

"Well I know that she only has two men in her life right now," Rachel started, "You and her grandfather who can't even remember her name."

"Yeah I'm pretty jealous of her grandfather," OC joked, "Sometimes she spends more time with him than with me."

Rachel laughed at his joke, "You know to tell you the truth I was at first jealous of Annie and you. You two seemed so close at first I thought you guys were gonna end up together."

"Not at all!" Jack assured her, "She's my best friend. She's like my sister...I can't...Oh God I couldn't even picture it..."

"Yeah," Rachel giggled, "Well you're a pretty great best friend. I heard about you taking care of Annie when she was upset about her gramps."

"That's what a best friend is supposed to do. You're one of my best friends too. If anything happened I'd be there," he told her honestly.

Rachel blushed a bit. That was one of the nicest things anyone had every said to her, and especially coming from a Red Sox fan!

"Thanks," her face was red.

Finally after all five courses the desert has arrived and it was time for Jack to tell Rachel his important news. Or more like ask an important question.

"Ok, so you're going to Doc's party on Friday right?" OC asked.

"Yeah of course wouldn't miss it," Rachel nodded.

"Well afterwards I'm taking the red eye back to Boston and I've gotta spare ticket. Do you wanna come with me?" OC asked.

Rachel smiled, "Yeah. I'd love to."

She stood up and lent into the table to give Jack a little kiss on the lips, "Let's hope that we don't break up between now and then huh?"

Jack laughed at the joke and the two continued eating. Maybe he had gotten more than a spot on the team when we moved out to Minnesota.

**You know what to do.**


	28. Christmas Party

**Bluehaven4220: Thanks for the review :) More gag gifts to come!**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Yay! I'm happy to have made your day, you made my day with your latest update too haha.**

**Meadow567: Thanks for reviewing. I like your predictions lol :)**

**Anna: Thanks for the review!**

**AN: Well here's the next chapter. I hope you guys like it. There's a little drama at the beginning but it's mostly fluffy :) Sorry it took so long to get up. This is such a crazy time for me ahhh it's crazy! But after watching the Sox game (we finally won!) I felt wide awake so I was able to finish up the chapter lol. Anyways, enjoy! It's the big Christmas chapter (if you couldn't tell by the title haha)**

**Chapter 28**

"Guess what?" Rachel practically sang as she entered the house.

She had just came back to Annie's grandfather's house after spending the night with Jack. She was really excited to meet his family. It seemed like all their fighting and bickering before was just stupid and they were really on track.

"Rach," Annie groaned as she entered the kitchen already dressed, "I really don't want to hear about your sex life with OC."

"Oh no Annie, it's even better than that!" Rachel gleamed.

"Not having sex with OC?" Annie joked as she poured some coffee into her mug, "You're right! That is pretty awesome!"

"No silly," she laughed, "Jack asked me to go with him to Boston for Christmas!"

Annie almost spat out her coffee and burned her tongue with it. Instead of making a scene she tried her best to gracefully swallow.

"That's great," she plastered on a smile.

In all actuality it wasn't very great. In fact, it sucked. Annie had planned on spending Christmas with Rachel here in Minnesota. If Rachel hadn't of come she might of gone back to Boston for a few days with OC because he offered her a ticket. She missed home a lot.

"I know right!" Rachel smiled, "So what are you doing up so early? And why are you dressed?"

"Rachel, it's ten thirty. And I gotta get to work," she took one last sip before rushing past her blonde friend and out the front door.

"When you get back home you gotta help me pack," Rachel shouted out the front door, "I'm too lazy to do it by myself."

"I get back at five," the red head yelled back, "Just do it yourself."

She then unlocked her car and slammed it shut as soon as she got in. Annie was pretty pissed and was even more upset that Rachel couldn't even tell that she left in a huff. Annie's anger really showed at work. Luckily she had a very nice boss and only really had to stock items and work as a cashier, but less work didn't make her feel any better.

As she stack a pile of diapers, like shown in a pyramid drawing, she got to thinking more about it.

'How could OC do that to me? He asked me about it before she even came home. And they aren't even that close. Some friend he...'

Before Annie could even finish her thought a diaper box fell from where she placed it and hit her in the face. She then threw it back up on the messy looking pyramid. Another one fell but Annie managed to catch it and throw it back onto the display. This happened a few more times until a hand reached out and grabbed the box of diapers before Annie could catch it. Annie turned to see who caught it and it was none other than her boyfriend Robbie.

"Are you ok?" he asked. She looked really pissed and the way she handled the diaper pyramid did not help her case.

"Yeah. I'm fine," she groaned.

Just then the entire display pyramid collapsed. Robbie took Annie's arm and pulled her behind him so she wouldn't get hit with any of the boxes.

"Thanks," she sighed as she looked down at the mess, "Perfect."

Annie started to pick up the mess and Robbie helped her. He only wanted to see his girlfriend on a day without practice but now he wanted to find out what was going on with her. After the big scare they had she seemed like she was getting better. The two cleaned up the mess in silence and made the display.

"Thanks," she said again with a half smile on her face.

"No problem," he told her, "Are you alright?"

Annie shook her head and looked more upset than before, "No."

"What happened?"

"OC gave Rachel his extra ticket to Boston and now I have to stay out here by myself! One of the only reasons I stayed was to be with her because her family doesn't like her. And that was my ticket in the first place! I mean seriously what the hell?"

"I'm sorry," he told her.

"And the worst part is that I have to stay in that house all by myself. I'm gonna be alone for Christmas! I mean gosh, the move is so close so I need to move everything out but I don't wanna spend my entire holiday there alone!"

"I know," he understood her.

He offered her a hug and she gladly took it. She held him tight as he gave her a kiss on the forehead. While in the embrace Robbie came up with an idea.

"Hey," he let go of her so she can look at her in the face, "How about you spend Christmas with me?''

"What?" Annie was a little confused.

"Well Mark and Bah are going up to their homes for Christmas and since I'm from here I'm gonna just stay at the apartment. You can spend the whole holiday week with me," he offered.

"Are you serious?" she really liked the idea.

"Yeah," he nodded, "And I'm going back home for Christmas dinner, you can come too. You're not spending all day with your grandfather and we can just tell my parents that we're friends so they don't ask to many questions."

Annie didn't say anything at first.

"So do you wanna stay with me or not?" her boyfriend asked.

"Yes"

"Really?"

"Yeah," she gleamed, "I'd love to."

She gave him a light kiss on the lips, "Thank you so much."

"Anytime," he nodded smiling down to her.

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The next few days between Rachel, Annie, and OC had been a little tense. Annie was really happy to spend her holidays with Mac instead of alone, but she still couldn't help but feel hurt by the couple for ditching her, especially Rachel.

"Are we almost there?" Rachel asked Annie, who was driving.

"Yeah I think so," she nodded.

Rachel and OC were leaving that night on a red eye after the party. Annie was gonna give them a ride to the airport. The trunk was full of their bags.

"So Conway, what are you doing this Christmas?" OC asked.

"I'm spending it with my grandfather," Annie lied. She didn't want to tell OC the truth, especially when he was about to leave for Boston. If they had a problem they were both ones to face it head on instead of leaving.

Rachel groaned, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Annie got a bit offended. She loved her gramps and she was still seeing him three times a week and was gonna spend some time with him on Christmas, "Why?"

"Come on Conway! I mean get real. The man doesn't even know your name," OC pointed out.

"Well he's my family and I'm gonna see him," Annie defended herself. After all the crap she put up with Rachel she didn't want to get into a fight. Hopefully the two took her cool voice as a warning to back off.

After a moment of awkward silence OC and Rachel started talking about random flight stuff. Annie wasn't really listening. She just rolled her eyes and put on a smile. She wouldn't let anything ruin the party for her, and in a couple hours she was gonna go to Robbie's place and spend the week with him.

The three arrived at Doc's house around the same time as Phil and Jimmy, who was wearing a full on Santa costume.

"How did you get that?" Annie laughed as she greeted the two.

"It's a rental," Jimmy told her.

"Aren't you missing the hat?" Rachel added as she gave him a hug and small peck on the cheek, how she usually greeted her guy friends.

"I think he's missing the beard too," OC joked.

"Hey, Conway, why don't you greet us like Rachel does?" Phil asked.

"Because I don't wanna get your cooties, Verchota," Annie teased.

"You think I have cooties huh?" Verchota got closer to her.

"Yeah, I do," Annie stood her ground.

"Ok," Phil nodded. He then threw a snowball right at her, "There that's cootie vaccine."

"Oh you're so dead!" she picked up a snowball and tried to throw one back at him, which ended up missing.

Phil laughed at her and Annie tried to throw another one at him but Rachel held her back, "Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace!"

"I'm gonna get you!" Annie jokingly warned, "When you least expect it!"

"I'll be waiting," Verchota joked back.

Once everyone got to Doc's house they all ate the pizzas that were ordered and had a couple of beers. After their meal they all wanted to open their gifts. Since Jimmy was dressed as Santa Claus everyone gave him the gifts to pass out and he happily did. While passing them out he tried really hard to do a deep voice just like Santa. He seemed like he was having a good time, which was good because it has been a tough year since his mom passes away.

"Ho Ho Ho" everyone laughed as Jimmy handed a gift to Silk.

"Who gave me this?" Silk looked down at the small box.

"I did," Mac got up.

"Let's see it," Coxy shouted.

Silk opened up his gift and his eyes widened. It was the purple panties that Annie picked out for him earlier.

"Well, your girl left these at my place. With some milk and cookies. Give her a hug for me," Mac laughed. Everyone cracked up and Silky shook his head, "You guys are unbelievable."

"Annie did you pick that out?" Rizzo asked. By then the whole team knew that they went to the mall together so she could help him pick out a gift.

"No," Annie lied and shook her head, "Actually I said that he should get him a Red Sox hat but he was like 'No. I'll get him this'"

Annie then winked at Mac and he nodded to her, giving his thanks. Craig and Herb opened their gifts and after Herb left the guys decided it was time for football. They kept asking the girls if they wanted to play. Rachel and Annie both refused and used cleaning dishes as an excuse not to play. Gail was at the party too, but she had to go back to her place to pack because she and Buzz were spending the holidays at his parents upstate and they decided to leave that night with Bah and Pav, who were also heading up there.

After the game the party was over. OC and Rachel were leaving for their flight and Annie planned on giving them a ride to the airport. Since Bah was leaving that night, he took the car that Robbie and Mark came to the party in so Annie offered to "give them a lift home" too. Mark already knew about Annie spending her holidays at their apartment and surprisingly enough he didn't make a big deal about it.

"Which team won the football game?" Annie asked.

"Team Santa," Mark answered.

"What was the other team name? Claus?" Rachel giggled

"Yeah," Mac said with a straight face.

"Gee whiz, you guys are cool," Rachel sarcastically commented.

"Turn on the radio, Conway!" OC asked from the backseat, where he sat next to Rachel. Mark sat on the other side of Rachel and Robbie sat in the front with Annie.

"No! They're are way too many Christmas songs on!"Annie complained.

"Way to show that Christmas spirit, Annie," Rachel was going a sarcasm streak.

"Yeah come on! Put on some yuletide carols!" Robbie laughed.

Annie turned to him and giggled, sticking her tongue out. Rachel and OC couldn't see because the car was pretty dark, but Mac did. She turned on the radio and rolled her eyes as "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" for the twentieth time that day.

Mark, Robbie, and Annie arrived back at the apartment about a half an hour after dropping OC and Rachel off at the airport. They were all pretty beat from the party so they just wanted to hang out, drink some beers, and watch some tv.

"Rudolph's on!" Robbie exclaimed as soon as he turned on the. He then laid back on the couch where Annie sat down. Annie shifted herself so she could rest her head on his shoulder and he could put his arm around her shoulder. Mark didn't seem weirded out at all.

"Sweet! I love Rudolph," Mark said.

"It's over," Annie said.

"What?!?" Mac sounded upset.

"Look," she pointed to the screen. The end credits where scrolling down, "See."

"Well isn't that depressing?" Mark shrugged.

"Nothing else is on tonight either," Mac told them, "Except the news."

"That's because the party ran too late," Annie laughed.

"Damn party!" Mac joked.

"Whatever," Mark got up and turned off the tv.

"Does anyone know who Herb is gonna cut?" Annie brought up conversation.

"Not yet," Mac replied.

"He probably didn't want to tell us during the holidays," Mark suggested.

"I don't think he'll cut either of you," Annie said.

"Why's that?" Mac asked.

"Because your his golden boy and Magic is..well Magic," Annie laughed, "I highly doubt that he'll cut you two."

"Anything can happen," Mark sighed.

"Who do you think it will be?" Annie asked him.

"I don't know...maybe Rizzo. Herb's said stuff about it in practice," Mark told her.

"Yeah. It could be him," Mac agreed, "Which is a shame because he's a good guy."

"I don't want Rizzo to go," Annie complained, "I don't want anyone to go..."

The three of them stayed up talking for another hour before Mark wanted to call it a night. He said that he was getting up early the next morning to take a flight back home to Madison.

"If I'm up early enough I'll give you a ride to the airport," Mac offered.

"Thanks man," Mark nodded, "Night."

"Good night," the couple said in unison.

Robbie and Annie remained lying on the couch, both too lazy and comfortable to get up.

"Is Mark cool with us now?" Annie looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I mean tonight he was completely like normal. We were like this ever since we got back and he didn't care at all."

"I think he's got used to the idea of us going out," Mac told her.

"Oh," Annie smiled. Then she took a deep breath, "I wanna tell him."

"OC?"

"Yeah," she nodded. She then lifted herself up to look at him face to face, "It's time to tell him. No messing around this time. I mean it, after he gets back from Boston we should tell him."

"Wow"

"Are you ok with it?" Annie asked.

"Of course!" he nodded, "I've wanted to tell him since day one but I've wanted to wait until you were ready."

"So we're gonna tell him?"

"Yeah, let's do it," Mac laughed.

"Yay!" she gleamed and gave him a quick peck on the lips, "I've wanted to tell him for so long but the timing never seemed right. But now it's perfect!"

"I know," then Robbie yawned, "Well I'm tired. Time to go to bed."

Annie giggled, "Yeah...just sleeping though."

"Damn," Mac pretended to be upset.

The next morning Mac woke up and left his bedroom, where Annie was still sleeping. He saw Mark in the kitchen making himself some breakfast.

"Hey man," Mac said tiredly.

"Hey," Mark nodded, "You two were pretty quiet last night."

"Oh yeah," Mac chuckled, "Annie's been freaked out since the baby scare so we're not doing it for a while. She said not until the New Year anyways."

Mark poured some of the pancake batter into the frying pan.

"Want some?" he offered.

"No," Mac shook his head, "You still want that ride?"

"Yeah thanks," Mark nodded.

"Anytime"

When Mark's pancakes finished he sat down at the table with Robbie to eat them.

"So Annie is ready to tell OC about us," Mac said.

"Are you serious?" Mark asked.

"Yep," Mark's best friend nodded, "We talked about it last night. She's really ready this time."

"That's good," Magic replied, "No more secrets anymore."

"Yeah I hear that," Robbie smiled just thinking about it, "I mean I know OC will be pissed but he should just back off because it's not any of his business anyways."

"You guys should tell him though," Mark insisted, "At first he'll be mad but after he gets over it you guys don't need to be all weird and secretive and look awkward together in the locker room."

"We look awkward together in the locker room?"

"Yeah," Mark nodded in a 'duh' way, "That's why you gotta tell him."

"I think we will when he gets back from Boston," Mac told him.

"That's good," Mark nodded as he finished off his pancakes, "Now how about that ride?"


	29. It's The End of the World

**Bluehaven422: Thanks for the review! I'm happy you liked the gifts! I hope you like this chapter but unfortunately not too much fluff /**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked the fluff, that chapter was full of it lol. There won't be too much of that here though. This is mostly drama. Hope you like it :)**

**Anna: Thanks for the review! Rachel and OC were mean though. You'll see some more of that here.**

**AN: Thanks everyone for the reviews :) This chapter was very difficult to write, which is why it took so long to post and I am very sorry about that. Anyways it is very long and full of drama. It's different than most chapters because it is in the POV of the three main characters; Mac, Annie, and OC. Each of them have there own sections in their own POV so some POV's are different than others. I got this idea of an episode of Dawson's Creek, which pretty much has the same theme in the end. I've never done it before. It was long to write but a lot of fun too! I really hope you all like it and review when you're done:)**

**Ch. 29**

**Mac's POV:**

_December 31, 1979_

"Come on, Robbie, stop it!" Annie giggled.

"Why? No one else is here yet!" Robbie pointed out as he continued to kiss his girlfriend's neck.

"But they could come..."

"But they won't, it's too early. And weren't we gonna tell them anyways?"

"That is very true," Annie suggestively whispered before kissing him hard on the lips.

They continued to make out and then Robbie picked her up and she had her back against the wall.

"Well isn't somebody strong?" she laughed as she kissed his neck.

"Well I am an athlete," he joked.

They started kissing on the lips and then Annie breathed, "Mac, I'm ready."

"Are you sure? I thought you wanted to wait until after the New Year..."

"Are you gonna keep talking or are we gonna..."

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

The couple immediately stopped making out and Mac placed Annie back on the ground. Their time alone was over and their friends just arrived. A lot of the guys were back from Christmas already and offered to help move everything out of Annie's grandfather's house. Today was the final day she had it before giving it over to a new family.

Annie and Mac had a great holiday together. Mac's family were really nice to Annie. They didn't know that they were going out though, because Mac and Annie told them they were just friends.

"Ahhh no more fun," Mac gave a joking puppy dog face.

"Maybe tonight will be a bit better," Annie winked to him.

"We're here!" the couple heard Silk yell in the house, followed by the footsteps of some other guys.

"Coming guys," Mac's girlfriend shouted to them, "Let's go."

Mac and Annie left the dinning room, where they were packing boxes, and went into the living room to meet their newly arrived friends; among them were Silky, Mark, Bah, Buzz, Verchota, and Rizzo.

"And what were you two doing in the back room?" Verchota jokingly suggested.

"Shut up Verchota!" Mac pretended to laugh, but he was pretty nervous, hopefully Annie didn't see that.

The guys all began packing boxes so they can be moved out to their cars, which would be all later brought to a storage place. Mac and Mark began packing their car already.

"So what were you and Conway doing before we all got here?"

"Oh c'mon Magic, you know I don't kiss and tell," Mac joked.

"At least you didn't get caught," Mark told him, "I was the one that beeped the car horn before we came inside, just in case you were doing something."

"Thanks man," Robbie thanked his best friend.

"You still gonna tell OC when he gets back from Boston?"

"Yeah," Mac nodded, "We decided to tell him together."

"He gets back the day after tomorrow right?" Mark asked.

Robbie nodded again.

"That's good. It gives you two more time to plan out how to tell him."

"Plan? Annie and I haven't really discussed a plan yet..."

"Well you should. It's a pretty big thing and you are telling OC," Mark tried.

"You think we should have a plan?"

"I think you should have several..."

Mac thought about it for a minute. Mark was right, it was OC they were dealing with and they definitely needed to figure out how to tell him that his best friend is with a guy he can hardly stand. He didn't even think about that all the times he wanted to tell him before. But now it just seemed so real.

"Well at least we have some time then..." Robbie laughed, trying not to think about his situation.

"Not enough," Mark nodded to something behind his friend.

"What?" Mac then turned around and saw a familiar looking guy walking towards them. It was OC.

'What's he doing here? Isn't he supposed to be in Boston?' Robbie asked himself.

"Hey man," he could hear Mark greet OC and saw them shake hands.

"Hey what's up?"

Mac then greeted OC, "Hey. What are you doing home?"

"I flew here..."

OC then brushed past them and walked inside the house. He clearly was not in the best of moods. When OC left, Mac could see Mark giving him the look.

"Way to play it cool, man," Mark laughed.

"Shut up man! Why is he here? He isn't supposed to be back for two days."

"Well what can I say? You guys had time to plan it..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The guys finished packing up the house a couple hours later. OC seemed pretty mad about something so Mac didn't talk to him too much. He didn't even go with them to drop off the boxes at storage, he just stayed at the house with Annie.

Mac, Mark, and Bah had lots of boxes in their car. There were too much for all three of them to fit so Mark volunteered to walk home because it wasn't very far.

"So what were you doing at Conway's house so early?" Bah, who was driving, asked.

"What do you mean?" Mac played dumb.

"Oh c'mon man, you guys have been hanging out a lot lately. What's going on between you two? I thought you guys couldn't stand each other."

"We hardly can. And we haven't spent that much time together. I was only there early because I was running an errand and just went to her house right after. I came like five minutes before you guys did," Mac lied.

"Sure..." Bah snickered.

"You know what man, why don't you just shut up!" Mac got defensive.

"I was just kidding, man"

"No you weren't! You're just bored so you're accusing Annie and I of like hooking up."

"Annie?" Bah got even more suspicious, "Since when did you call her Annie?"

"I don't know. It just slipped out," Mac tried to cover it up.

"Yeah whatever man..."

The rest of the car ride was in complete silence. Bah was getting suspicious but Mac couldn't tell him. The next person he was gonna tell about it was OC, and that was gonna be really soon, probably that night.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Ring Ring Ring**

The phone rang in the apartment which Mac, Mark, and Bah shared. Mac was the only one home so he went to pick it up. Mark was out with a couple of the guys and Bah went with him, which made Mac happy because there was tension between the two of them. Mac was planning on meeting up with them later, but first he wanted to talk to Annie about what to do.

"Hello?" Mac picked up.

"ROBBIE WE CAN'T TELL HIM!" he heard his girlfriend say quickly over the phone.

"What? Why?"

After dropping the boxes off at storage Mac spent the rest of the day mentally preparing himself to tell OC. They had to do it and the sooner the better.

"We just can't Mac!"

Before he could say anything else, Annie hung up on him. Something was definitely wrong with her and Mac was gonna find out what that was.

Since Mac didn't have his car he had to walk over to Annie's grandfather's house, or in his case run. Annie seemed really upset, something must've happened.

Mac got there about twenty minutes after she had called. She was outside the house, looking up at it. She looked pretty upset, she was saying goodbye.

"Annie..." he ran up to her, out of breath.

"Robbie? What are you doing here?" Annie prompted him up to his feet.

She had a single tear going down her cheek. She looked like she was gonna miss that house.

"Why aren't we telling him, Annie? We need to tell him! It's been too long..."

"Because we can't Robbie!" Annie said.

"Why not?" he asked again.

"BECAUSE IT WILL KILL HIM!" Annie exclaimed. She began crying even more, "We can't tell him. Please don't him, it's gonna kill him! We can't tell him!"

Robbie then brought his very upset girlfriend into a hug, "Shhhh. We won't tell him. I won't tell him. We can tell him when you're ready."

Mac continued comforting Annie on the sidewalk of the old house for a couple of minutes until she had calmed down.

"I'm so sorry it can't be tonight. I thought about it a lot and this...us...it's gonna kill him!"

"I promise we'll tell him and everybody else when you're ready," Mac nodded.

"Thank you," she gave a half smile, wiping tears from her eyes.

They went back into an embrace and Annie gave him a light kiss on the lips.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?"

The two broke apart and saw the last person they wanted to see.

"OC," Annie breathed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Annie's POV:**

_December 31, 1979_

"Come on, Robbie, stop it!" Annie giggled.

"Why? No one else is here yet!" Robbie pointed out as he continued to kiss her neck.

"But they could come..." Annie tried.

It's true, they could come. And the last thing she wanted was for all the guys to walk in on the making out when they were supposed to be packing up the house.

"Not now," Robbie convinced her, "It's too early."

"That's true," Annie smiled, "But still we should get some work done..."

Robbie then picked Annie up which caused her to give a surprised little scream. He walked over to the wall and held her against it, kissing her neck the whole time.

"You're strong, but we got some work to do," Annie laughed.

Mac stopped kissing her neck and groaned, "All right."

"Thank you," she grinned, giving her boyfriend a little kiss on the cheek, "We have some boxes to carry."

"Hold on," Mac said grabbing her arm. He pulled her into a kiss again and started what she was trying to stop.

Annie tried with all her power to mentally tell herself to stop, but she couldn't. With everything that happened with the baby scare Annie didn't want to take any chances. But she couldn't help it, he was just so good looking and a great boyfriend.

He picked her up again...

**BEEP, BEEP, BEEP**

The couple stopped making out and Annie was placed back on the ground. The guys were here and their time along together was over. Annie appreciated everyone offering to help out because there was a lot that needed to be done and very little time left, less than twenty four hours. Also the guys were a way for them to stop making out and Annie couldn't give in.

"Ahhh no more fun!" Mac sighed jokingly.

"Maybe tonight will be better," Annie gave a light smile.

"We're here!" the couple heard Silk yell in the house, followed by the footsteps of some other guys.

"Coming guys," Annie yelled, then turned to her boyfriend, "Let's go."

Mac and Annie left the dinning room, where they were packing boxes, and went into the living room to meet their newly arrived friends; among them were Silky, Mark, Bah, Buzz, Verchota, and Rizzo.

"And what were you two doing in the back room?" Verchota jokingly suggested.

"Shut up Verchota!" Mac laughed.

Annie felt a little uncomfortable. Why would Mac joke about that? She knew they were a big deal and that in a couple of days everyone would know that they were together.

The group got to work right after that. They all had to pack boxes and afterwards the guys said they'd all bring them down to storage for her while she was visiting her grandfather in the nursing home.

While taping up boxes with the guys, Annie saw the person she least expected.

"OC!" she was surprised, he wasn't supposed to come home for another few days. She got up and gave him a hug, "I thought you weren't coming back for another couple of days."

"No," OC shook his head as they released from the embrace, "We decided to come back a few days earlier."

"Where's Rach? I'm dying to see her," Annie grinned.

"I don't know," OC responded unemotionally.

"Ok..."Annie could tell something was wrong, "...do you wanna help move out? Then afterwards we can go out to lunch."

"Sure," OC nodded.

About two hours later, everyone left. The guys all packed up and moved the stuff out of the house. Annie still had to manage the kitchen and a few personal stuff, but she had plenty of time to do that. Right now, she had to find out what was wrong with her best friend.

The car ride was pretty silent. They just sat listening to radio's top hits of the year. They only went to McDonalds, nothing special.

"What are you looking at?" Annie laughed as she arrived at the table. He was already ordered and at the table when she first got in line.

"What?" OC looked like he was in deep thought or something, which was unusual for him.

Annie just sighed.

"So what's going on?" she asked as she placed her tray on the table and sat across the table from OC.

"Nothing..." OC sighed.

"Jack O'Callahan you have been my best friend for eight years. Don't tell me that nothing is wrong," Annie tried.

"It's nothing," OC told her, "Rachel and I just broke up. I'm not gonna get all torn up about it because I'm not."

"I'm sorry," Annie sympathized, "What happened?"

"We just needed to take a break like always," her best friend said as he took a sip of his soda.

"That's it?" Annie was skeptical, "You guys seemed great when you left. You even gave her my ticket..."

"I wish I didn't now," OC grumbled, "And you weren't gonna go anyways, that's why I gave it to her."

"I know," Annie nodded, "It's ok. I actually had a pretty good holiday."

"That's good," he nodded, "What party are you going to tonight?"

"Not sure yet," Annie told him, "Probably the one at the park. It's supposed to be huge."

Annie and OC hung out a bit more and caught up. OC never asked about where Annie went for Christmas and if he did she would've lied and said she spent it with her grandfather. And technically she wouldn't of lied because she spent some part of that day with him, and was going to see him right now.

After Annie dropped OC off at his dorm she went right to the nursing home. She parked in her usual spot and went right in. All the nurses knew her at that point, since she visited her grandfather so much.

"Hey Annie! Happy New Years!" one of the nurses smiled at her as she walked by.

"Oh thanks Julie! You too," Annie smiled back right before entering her grandfather's room.

John Conway laid on his bed watching his old black and white. He didn't have a roommate, so he didn't talk to people that much, only Annie and some nurses.

"Hello John," Annie smiled. She always said this to him. She never called him gramps or grandpa because she didn't want to upset him. Right now, he didn't even remember her appearance and it would confuse him a lot if she said that. Sometimes he would remember her name but he didn't know he was actually talking to her.

"Hello," the old man smiled back, "What's your name?"

"I'm Annie," the red head introduced herself.

"Annie is a lovely name. I have a granddaughter named Annie and she's a beautiful girl. But you look nice too," he tried to be friendly.

"Thanks," Annie plastered on the fake smile.

Annie read to him a bit and while she was reading, he fell asleep. When she noticed this she stopped and yawned. She was so exhausted. Not just from today but from everything concerning the move. And not just physically but mentally too. She hasn't been able to tell anyone how she felt about it at all and that killed her inside.

"So gramps...today is moving day," Annie sighed, looking down at her sleeping grandfather, "It's been tough. You and grams shared a lot of memories in that house. I had good memories there too, when I went to visit you for Christmas or Thanksgiving or summer break. But I've thinking that if we had such good memories in that house and so many of them that a new family deserves the happiness that we had in that house."

Annie smiled down at her grandfather. She was lying to herself and she knew it. But Annie also knew that breaking down about it now would only make the final leaving process even worse. Annie sat beside her grandpa for a few more minutes until she decided to leave. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and left the room. She had some more work to do back at the house.

Arriving back at the house twenty minutes later, Annie saw a familiar face sitting on the front steps of her house. A smile instantly formed on her face.

"Rachel!" Annie exclaimed, "What's up?"

The red head walked over to the blonde and gave her a big hug. Rachel left for Boston in a weird place between she and Annie. Annie just wanted to forget all about that because it was just stupid.

"I'm ok," Rachel gave a half smile, "Did Jack tell you about us?"

"Yeah. Not too much though. He just said you two broke up. He seemed upset by it though," Annie told her.

"Really?" Rachel seemed surprised.

"Yeah," Annie nodded as she unlocked the door of the house, "You know it's probably just one of those twenty four hour break ups like you two always had. I bet you guys will be fine by the New Year's party tonight."

Rachel sighed,shook her head and followed Annie, "I really don't think so. But thanks."

"Why? What happened?" Annie asked. Rachel seemed pretty upset.

"It's nothing," Rachel answered quickly, "I just don't wanna talk about it."

"I'm sorry," Annie tried.

"It's alright. Do you mind if I help you out a bit. I just don't wanna be alone now," Rachel asked.

"Of course!"

They really didn't have that much to talk about except for the break up. She asked Annie about her Christmas but it was just the same boring answer she gave to everyone else, with no mention of Robbie whatsoever. After a minute of silence, Rachel spoke up.

"It's just hard ya know? Like I like him, a lot and I took the next step...and it was all for nothing," Rachel vented.

"I'm sorry babe," Annie tried, "Do you think he wasn't on the same page as you?"

"No," Rachel explained, "We were definitely on the same page. It's just we kept on fighting close to the end..."

"Like little bickering fights?"

"No..." Rachel shook her head.

Annie observed that like OC, Rachel was also very loose on details. They must've gotten into a really bad fight. But if they didn't want to talk about it maybe they both knew that it was stupid and they'd make up.

"...But enough about me," Rachel changed the subject, "How are you holding up?"

"What do you mean?" Annie asked.

"Moving out and all. I mean it has to be pretty hard. Packing away all our grandparents' memories. Your grandma is already gone, and your grandfather isn't doing very well either..."

Annie sighed and gave a bit of a frown. She didn't want to be sad about this. This was hard enough on her without Rachel bringing it up.

"I'm fine," Annie quickly responded, not wanting to have a confrontation.

"Are you..." Rachel was cut off.

"I'm fine," Annie said more stern this time. Rachel was aware that this was a sore subject and backed off.

"I'm sorry," Rachel said, "But you know I'm always here for you. We all are. And OC will totally support you, he's your best friend."

"Thanks," Annie gave a half smile, thanking her for the effort.

"I mean seriously he'd totally back you on anything! Like the big fight between Jack and I was about you," Rachel laughed, only realizing a moment later that she shouldn't of said anything.

"What?" Annie was shocked.

'Why would they be fighting about me?' Annie thought to herself.

"Ok," Rachel took a deep breath, "Well a couple days ago we were joking around and I said that you and Mac were probably together. I was kidding of course and he took it so seriously! But I've been thinking about it a lot lately and you probably are..."

"No we're not!" Annie defended herself, "You guy broke up over that?"

"Well yeah... I mean at first he let it go but we kept getting back to that and I joked about it the airport today and he like snapped and we got into a fight and broke up,"Rachel explained.

"How could you even suspect Mac and I of going out?" Annie was shocked.

"I don't know!" Rachel tried, "It's just you guys are spending time together and I've seen the looks. What's going on?"

"NOTHING!" Annie yelled, "I can't believe you'd ever think that...Just get out of here!"

"I'm sorry," Annie could tell she didn't mean it.

"Please leave," the red head pointed to the door.

"Whatever," Rachel rolled her eyes.

Annie could hear the door of her house slam shut as Rachel left. If Rachel suspected then Lord knows who else might of. And the worse part about all of this was that OC defended her the entire time. He believed that his best friend wouldn't do anything like hook up with a guy he can barely stand, especially behind his back, that he broke up with his girlfriend. They couldn't tell him now, it would hurt him so much.

Annie immediately picked up the phone to call her boyfriend. If he picked up she would talk, if not she would just hang up like she always did. She really hated doing that.

"Hello?" she thankfully heard her boyfriend's voice.

"ROBBIE WE CAN'T TELL HIM!" she yelled quickly over the phone.

"What? Why?"

"We just can't Mac!" Annie then hung up the phone.

She couldn't confront him about him nor did she want to. Her mind was racing when she packed the last stuff out of the house and into her car. Entering the house for the last time she forgot about all of that. This was really it, she was really leaving. What seemed like months of burden was going away. It wasn't always a burden though, it was a safe haven too in a way. It was the only place that she could go that was her own. Joy, her roommate was awful and she had no other family here. She could be herself here, she could bring Robbie here and no one could catch them. Leaving this house was like leaving a bit of her relationship with Robbie, they had to be a lot more sneakier than ever now.

As she turned off the lights in the kitchen and the dinning room and the living room she thought of her grandparents. They must have had a great life in this house. And Rachel was right, her grandmother passed a few years ago and now her grandfather only had a few more years. This was like leaving them completely. She was leaving her childhood memories completely, and that saddened her.

Closing the door of the house for the last time, Annie had a tear streaming down her cheek. Walking down the stairs she heard a familiar voice call out her name.

"Annie..."

It was Robbie and he looked exhausted. It looked like he ran all the way here.

"Robbie? What are you doing here?" Annie tried to hold him up. He really was tired.

Annie saw that he was examining her face and the tear drop. Annie gave him a questioning look and he snapped out of that trance and said what he wanted to.

"Why aren't we telling him, Annie? We need to tell him! It's been too long..."

"Because we can't Robbie!" Annie said.

"Why not?" he asked again.

"BECAUSE IT WILL KILL HIM!" Annie exclaimed. She began crying even more, "We can't tell him. Please don't him, it's gonna kill him! We can't tell him!"

She felt Robbie wrap his arms around her and bring her into an embrace, "Shhhh. We won't tell him..."

Mac continued comforting Annie on the sidewalk of the old house for a couple of minutes until she had calmed down.

"I'm so sorry it can't be tonight. I thought about it a lot and this...us...it's gonna kill him!"

"I promise we'll tell him and everybody else when you're ready," Mac nodded to her.

"Thank you," she gave a half smile, wiping tears from her eyes.

They went back into an embrace and Annie gave him a light kiss on the lips.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?"

The two broke apart and saw the last person they wanted to see.

"OC," Annie breathed.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**OC's POV:**

_December 31, 1979_

"Is anybody picking us up?" OC could his girlfriend ask.

He was half listening to her. Things haven't been good for them since Christmas. They were just fighting a lot more and for bigger reasons.

"No," the hockey player replied in an unemotional tone.

"Not even Annie or anyone on the team?" Rachel was obviously annoyed.

"No. We're just waiting for a cab. It probably won't take too long," he replied, then meanly continued, "She's moving out of her house today, not hooking up with Mac."

Rachel rolled her eyes at this and huffed a bit, "Well she's probably doing a lot. That girl is very good at multi-tasking."

"Why the hell would you think that?" OC got defensive.

"Oh come on, Jack, be serious! The fact is that Annie has changed a lot since coming out here and there is an obvious attraction between the two. Everybody can see the signs..."

"I am serious! And you're the only one that sees these 'signs'," OC's voice got a bit tenser.

"Are you kidding me? Jack, everyone has seen it! Hell even Helen Keller can see the signs!" Rachel exclaimed.

OC got really pissed off at this. Why would Rachel be talking trash about Annie? They were supposed to be great friends. Clearly a Yankees fan like herself doesn't know anything about loyalty.

"Why would you ever say that about Conway? Your supposed to be her friend! You're just a horrible fake person. You're a plastic!" the Red Sox fan shut the New Yorker down. Rachel didn't even say anything back, she was pretty upset.

"We're done," OC said without even looking at her, "If you talk trash about a good friend like her I can only imagine what you say about me."

Rachel took a deep breath and was about to say something but a cab arrived. OC flagged it but it was Rachel who got in. She jumped in right before he did.

"Get your own cab!" Rachel said before slamming the door.

OC angrily watched the cab go off. He stood on the sidewalk in front of the airport a little longer, waiting for a cab. About ten minutes later one came and he went back to the dorms. Nobody was there because they were all helping Conway out at the house. OC really didn't want to go that badly but it was pretty boring at the dorms and nothing was on tv. He decided to go anyways.

OC walked to Annie's house because the car he shared with Silk and Rizzo was with them. Walking down the street to her house he saw Mark and Mac talking and packing boxes into a car.

'Great,' OC groaned to himself. Mac was about the last person he wanted to see right now.

"Hey man," Mark greeted him as he got closer.

"Hey what's up?"

They shook hands and he saw Mac standing their looking really confused and somewhat upset. Mac didn't say too much.

"Hey. What are you doing home?"

"I flew here..." OC responded. He didn't want to talk to them too much, only Conway.

With that OC left them to go inside. It was getting to be really awkward and OC just wanted to leave. He walked up the stairs and went inside, instantly greeted by his best friend.

"OC!" the redhead got up and gave him a huge hug "I thought you weren't coming back for another couple of days."

"No," OC shook his head as they released from the embrace, "We decided to come back a few days earlier."

"Where's Rach? I'm dying to see her," his best friend grinned.

"I don't know," OC responded unemotionally. Why would Rachel talk shit about Annie? She's being so nice to her right now.

"Ok..." he sensed that she knew something was up, "...do you wanna help move out? Then afterwards we can go out to lunch."

"Sure," OC nodded.

OC didn't talk too much when he helped move out. He talked to Rizzo and Silk a bit but not anyone else very much. A few hours passed and everyone left. Only Conway and OC stayed behind at the house because they were going out to eat.

The car ride was silent, they only listened to the radio. OC didn't want to talk to her. He couldn't tell her what Rachel said, that would hurt her a lot. Rachel accused Conway of doing a horrible thing, going behind his back to be with Mac. She knows that just saying that hurt him and Conway. He was so happy they broke up now.

They arrived at the McDonalds and Conway went to the bathroom, so he ordered first. He already had his food and was at a table when she came out. She saw him and then got in line to order. He looked back at her waiting in line and realized she's changed a lot. It's like she's a different person on the outside, a lot prettier too. But a change on the outside would never change who she was on the inside. Rachel was just being stupid to ever accuse Annie of hooking up with Mac. She was totally wrong.

"What are you looking at?"

OC snapped out of his train of thought and realized that Conway was standing right there, "What?"

Annie just sighed and sat down at the table across from him, "So what's going on?"

"Nothing..." OC sighed.

"Jack O'Callahan you have been my best friend for eight years. Don't tell me that nothing is wrong," his best friend tried.

"It's nothing," OC told her, "Rachel and I just broke up. I'm not gonna get all torn up about it because I'm not."

"I'm sorry," Annie looked like she felt bad, "What happened?"

"We just needed to take a break like always," he lied and took a sip of his soda.

"That's it?" Annie seemed unconvinced, "You guys seemed great when you left. You even gave her my ticket..."

"I wish I didn't now," OC grumbled, "And you weren't gonna go anyways, that's why I gave it to her."

"I know," Annie nodded, "It's ok. I actually had a pretty good holiday."

"That's good," he nodded and then changed the subject, "What party are you going to tonight?"

"Not sure yet," she replied, "Probably the one at the park. It's supposed to be huge."

They caught up a bit more and it was really nice. He made sure that she didn't bring up Rachel again. It was fun catching up with her though. After lunch she drove him back to his dorm and then drove off to see her grandfather and do some last minute things on the house.

"Hey man," OC was greeted by Rizzo when he entered the dorm room they shared.

"Hey. Did you guys get the boxes to storage ok?" OC asked.

"Yeah," Rizzo nodded, "How was lunch with Annie?"

"It was alright," he answered, "We caught up."

"Did you tell her about your break up with Rachel?" Rizzo questioned.

"How did you..." Rizzo cut him off.

"Rach came by earlier. She told me everything," Rizzo explained.

"Whatever," OC shrugged as he laid back on his bed.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Rizzo asked.

"Not really. I don't wanna go out with her anymore because all the crap she said about Conway! They're supposed to be friends!"

"Well Conway would never do that. But she was just kidding around..."

"It was still stupid. She knows that would hurt me a lot if that happened. Conway wouldn't stoop that low," OC defended his best friend's honor.

"Yeah I know that, OC. Everyone knows that. But Rachel also told me about some of the body language. I've seen some of it too.."

"What the hell do you think you're saying?" OC got agitated.

"Well," Rizzo began, "I don't think that they're like going out or anything but I think that Conway may think Mac is like cute or something. She's just not doing anything because she doesn't want to hurt you."

"You think that's true? She might like Mac?"

"I don't know! That's just my guess. I'm probably wrong. I'm pretty bad at those kinds of things," Rizzo tried to reassure him.

"Whatever," OC sighed, "I'm gonna go ask her about it."

OC got up but Rizzo stopped him before he did anything else.

"I think you should wait until later," Rizzo said, "She's probably busy right now with the house. Besides you just saw her..."

"Good idea," OC thanked him, "Thanks Riz."

OC hung out with Rizzo and a couple of the other guys on the team for the next couple of hours. Once it got dark some of the guys decided to go to the New Year's Eve party, which was taking place in the park. This was a perfect time to go talk to Conway, and she was going to that party too so they can ride together.

OC used the car he had with Rizzo and Silk to drive over there. Going down her street he saw Mac at her house.

'Why would he be here?' he asked himself.

He parked the car in front of her house but they didn't even notice, they were too busy kissing. OC couldn't believe his eyes. Everything he thought about Annie changed at that very moment and all OC could say was:

"WHAT THE HELL?!?"

Mac and Conway stopped making out and turned and saw him. They both has shock and fear as the expression on their faces.

"OC," his best friend breathed his name.

**So there it is! Long right?!? Lol, tell me what you think :)**


	30. Paint It Black

**Meadow567: Thanks for the review! Hope you like this chapter too :)**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for reviewing! I'm sorry I left it off at such a cliffy haha. This chapter sorta has a cliffy too. Hope you like it!**

**Dazedandconfused91: Thanks for the review! Glad you liked the cliffhanger lol. And OC and Annie are only best friends, on the rocks at the current moment lol. You'll see who he really likes in this chapter! Hope you like it.**

**Anna: Thanks for reviewing! I'm happy you enjoyed it!**

**AN: I want to thank everyone for all of their reviews, they meant a lot. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It has a lot of drama and tension. The name of the chapter come from the Rolling Stones song. I'm sorry I didn't get this up earlier. This month has been insane. It was the final weeks of the marking term and on top of all my work I had to do my applications for college. It was just so hectic! Anyways, my chapter is up now and I'm on break until after New Years so I'm gonna work really hard to get a new chapter up! Anyways, I hope you all like it :)**

**Ch. 30**

"WHAT THE HELL?!?"

The couple broke apart to see who yelled that, and it was the last person they wanted to see. It was OC.

"OC" Annie breathed.

"What the hell, Conway?" OC was furious.

"Look, OC, I can explain!" Annie began to tear up again, trying to explain everything to her best friend.

"Don't bother," OC turned to walk away.

Annie ran after him and stopped him at his car, "Can't you just listen to me?"

"NO!" OC screamed as loud as he could, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING CONWAY?"

"It's my life, not yours! You can't tell me who I can or can not like, OC!" Annie yelled back, "You can't control me anymore!"

That was her philosophy when the relationship began. She loved OC to death but it always seemed like she was in his shadow and how he felt about stuff was how she felt too. It wasn't like she was herself. Going out with Mac changed her in that sense.

"Is that what this is about? You think I control you! If I had the ability to control any part of you I'd want Old Annie back!" OC told her.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Annie questioned angrily.

"Ever since you've had that stupid makeover you've changed. I've tried to deny it, but it's true. You're becoming a new person. You're just a stuck up girl who is afraid of being different! I miss old Annie because she wasn't like that at all!"

OC opened the door to his car and got in.

"OC WAIT!" he heard her yell before he closed the door and drove away.

Annie had tears in her eyes. She couldn't stop crying. She wanted him to know but not like that. She tried everything in her power to try to not have that happen and it just came to bit her in the ass. The red head turned back around to confront her boyfriend on what just happened. He must have been freaked out by the whole scene that he just witnessed. When she faced the direction that he was standing no one was there. She looked around everywhere for him. He was gone...

Mac walked around for a bit, unsure of what to do. He left Annie and OC because it just seemed like that fight wasn't about him. Of course his relationship with Annie triggered the argument, but Mac sensed that it was something a lot deeper than that. There was tension between the two best friends for months now and tonight was when it all came into focus.

Thinking back on it now, Mac feels guilty about leaving. It wasn't like there was anything that he could've said or done to make things better, but being it is a hell of a lot better than just walking out. He shouldn't of even been there that night. Annie was afraid of telling him because she didn't want to hurt him, and they trying to hide it only made OC find out. It was quite ironic in a way.

It's not that Mac didn't want OC to find out anyways. He didn't want him to find out the way that he did but it was a bit of a relief that he knew. Now they didn't need to be secretive anymore, but this could drive Annie and Mac pertinently apart. Now that OC knew it was only gonna be a matter of time before the whole team knew. He had to tell them before OC did. If Mac could bet his life on it, he'd say that OC would twist the story to make everyone be on his side and not hear Mac's at all. It sounds childish in a way but it was true.

Mac was planning on meeting up with Mark, Bah, Silk, Verchota, and Pav at a bar. He was pretty sure that Rizzo, Jimmy, and Coxy were gonna be there too. He had to get to that bar before OC did. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have his car and he was still sorta beat from running all the way to his girlfriends so he just walked it. It took him about twenty minutes to reach the bar, but his efforts were useless because OC was already there and boy, did he look angry.

Before getting more into the bar, Mark spotted him and quietly left the group of guys, who seemed wrapped in a story that OC was telling them. Mark walked over to his friend and roommate, and didn't say much besides, "We need to go outside."

Mac followed Mark out of the bar. Mark didn't seem angry or upset, in fact he really didn't have any emotion at all. It was like he knew this was going to happen.

"So I guess everyone knows, huh?" Mac asked.

"Yeah," Mark nodded, "You should talk to him alone. While you do that I'll tell the guys your side..."

"What?" Mac was shocked, "When you found out you said that you..."

Mark cut him off, "I know. But I honestly didn't think you guys would go as far as you did. And I feel sort of guilty about that. I need to tell them the truth..."

"Thanks man," Mac was truly grateful, "What was OC saying?"

"You don't want to know," Mark warned, "Oh and Bah knew before OC said anything. I told him everything in the car. He's not mad at you, he understands."

"Thanks," Mac sighed, "I owe you one."

"Actually you owe me several," Mark joked.

"I know," Mac gave a half smile, then he shrugged, "Well I guess I better get in there."

"That's a good idea," Mark said.

The two hockey players walked back into the bar. They got in a few steps away from the door and Mac could tell that the table was now fully aware of Mark's departure. Walking in a bit further the guys saw them and the whole table starred. They're expressions said everything. They're were shocked and didn't even know what to think, let alone say, when they saw Mac walk into the bar.

But Mac kept his chin up. This was gonna be awkward for the whole team but he needed to do it for Annie, the team, and himself. When he reached the table he tried his hardest not to look at the other guys and only focus on OC.

"Hey we need to talk, man," Mac said once he got in earshot of OC.

Mac wasn't looking but he could tell that all the guys were looking at him and they were a little stunned to hear this. Knowing OC, they'd figure that Mac would run for the hills. But he didn't. He just stood his ground and waited for the other hockey player to respond. All the guys looked at OC to find out what he'd do next.

"I don't want to talk to you," OC shrugged in a low voice.

He left the table and was walking towards the bar. Mac followed him, and that was a mistake. He called out to OC, who pretended not to hear it. Mac then called out his name again and this time OC promptly responded by punching him right in the face.

Mac fell to the ground. He was angry now. All he wanted to do was talk and he gets punched in the face. The hockey player got himself off the floor but before he could do anything else, Rizzo and Cox intervened.

"Stay out of it guys!" Silky yelled at Rizzo and Cox.

Jimmy, Mark, Pav, Verchota, and Bah couldn't believe that Silk would say that. It's exactly like what happened when the team first started practicing. When Mac and OC got into the big fight on the ice, Silk yelled at them to keep going and encouraged OC to punch Mac out. He even pulled Bill Baker away from the fight, and Baker was trying to stop it. But the fight then and this fight were completely different. That fight was necessary for the team so they could all let go of the tension, this fight was unnecessary and would be much better for the team not to occur at all.

By this time the bartender saw everything that happened and he didn't look happy.

"Get out before I call the cops on all of you!" he warned the hockey players.

The big group of guys left the bar at once, and made sure there was distance between Mac and OC. Once they got outside they continued from where they left off.

"Let them fight again!" Silky tried, "Have OC kick his ass. Mac deserves it for what he did to Conway!"

"What did he do to her?" Bah immediately defended his friend, Mac was shocked by this, "They both agreed to go together."

"Oh please," Silk sounded mad, "The only reason they went out was because Mac was just trying to piss OC off. Annie wasn't in a good place and he took advantage of that!"

"That's not true at all!" Verchota put his two cents in, "I've known Mac for four years and he would never do anything like that, especially now since we're so close to Lake Placid."

Before anyone could say anything else Rizzo made a stand.

"Everyone stop! It's New Year's Eve and it's not a time to fight. You wanna do that then do it another time, but not tonight."

"Rizzo's right," Jimmy nodded. It was the first thing he said the whole time.

"Yeah," Mark agreed.

"Whatever," OC shrugged, "I don't have time for this shit."

OC walked off with a big huff and Silky followed behind him. Cox, Rizzo, and Jimmy went with them too, but they didn't seem like they wanted to go very much. What they realized was that this was gonna kill everything the team has worked on to be a real team, a real team that could win a medal at the Olympics.

Mac and the guys that remained walked in a completely different direction. Mark knew everything that happened between Annie and he and Bah probably knew the basics from what Mark told him. Verchota and Pav didn't know anything besides the bullshit that OC probably fed them. But Verchota had known Mac for four years and defended him. And Pav seemed to be on Mac's side since he did go with him.

It was still pretty early and they all wanted to know Mac's story. On the way to the park, where the big New Year's celebration would be, the guys all stopped at another bar so they could have a few beers and hear the whole story between Mac and Conway.

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Annie had no idea where to go after she left the house. Saying bye to the house was enough, but now this too. Things between she and OC, she and Mac, and most importantly Mac and OC would never be the same. And knowing that this was all her fault, killed Annie.

She laid in her bed listening to the ball drop on the radio.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6

She couldn't help but breakdown. This would be the very first new year that she would be spending alone. It was the end of the 70's and very much could be the end of her friendship with OC, as well as her relationship with Mac.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" she could hear everyone over the radio cheer.

"Happy New Year, Annie," the red head sighed to herself.

This was gonna be some happy new year...An exhausted Annie fell asleep about twenty minutes later. The radio was still on and her problems were far from over.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A few days later was the first practice of the New Year. It seemed just like one of the earliest practices. With Boston guys and Minnesotans only talking with each other. It was pretty tense. By now the whole team knew about the Mac and Conway story. They didn't know all the details of their relationship, only that OC caught them kissing on New Year's Eve.

Some of the guys were shocked, but some weren't. Mark said that Rizzo didn't seem shocked at all when he found out. Rizzo was a good guy and a good friend to both Annie and OC, he probably didn't want to chose sides. But thinking back, Mac remembered that Rizzo may have seen some things in the locker room. Like some looks exchanged between the couple. And if Rizzo knew, who else may have known.

Surprisingly enough, Mac and OC were playing better than they had before. Mac played really well when he was stressed, which is why Annie's pregnancy scare, made him better in the coach's eyes. OC was the same way. They both had a really great practice and didn't even look at each other, let alone talk.

It was little surprise, but much relief, that Annie didn't come after practice that day. Things were already really tense and awkward and her presence would of made it a lot worse. Mac, OC, or anyone else for that matter had seen or spoken to Annie since New Year's Eve. They figured it was for the best. Nobody wanted to make things worse, OC refused to speak to her, and Mac just wanted to give her some space. It was really stupid reasoning but they thought of anything to avoid the problem at hand.

When Mac finished getting dressed after practice Mark finished at the same time so they left together. The locker room was pretty quiet so they weren't leaving anything exciting.

"Practice was bad today," Mac sighed to himself. It seemed like at the very moment he said that, the enormity of what happened sunk in. And he felt really guilty.

"Yeah," Mark nodded in agreement as he started up their car, "It might be that way for a while. At least Herb thought you had a good practice."

"Really?" Mac was surprised, "I didn't really notice. I wasn't listening to him too much today."

"Yeah," Mark tried to make his friend feel better, "But he knows something is wrong. He had Craig ask me about it."

"What did you say?"

"I told him the truth. I didn't say the full story. I just gave him the cliff notes. I said that you and Annie were together and when OC found out he got pissed," Mark said.

"Did he ask anything else?" Mac questioned.

"After I said that I walked away. He might ask more people about it though," Mark told him.

"Why," Mac got mad, "It's not really any of his business."

"Well when it messes with the team's chemistry, it is his business..."

Mac didn't have any comeback. Magic was completely right. This messed up the team's chemistry up. They had been building it for months and now this one thing could destroy it. As if he didn't feel guilty enough.

Things were silent for a moment in the car until Mark asked, "So you still haven't talked to Conway yet?"

"Nope," Mac shook his head.

"Are you gonna?"

"I don't know," he answered.

"Dude that's a no brainer. You have to talk to her man," Mark replied, "She works for the team remember?"

"After all of this?" Mac asked, "She didn't even come to practice today. She might of quit or something. Besides I can't talk to her now. I've already fucked up enough and she's probably mad at me because I left after OC caught us."

"Whatever man," Mark shrugged. He was sick of talking about this. And who would blame him? He was really the only person who knew and had to hear about everything between them. It was getting really old really fast, but he didn't want to say anything about that to the couple because he knew they were stressed enough with trying to keep it a secret.

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"I can't do this," Annie breathed.

It was the second day of practice for the New Year. The day before she didn't go and Herb called and asked about it. Annie didn't want to share her life story with him so she just said that she had to be with her grandfather. Herb didn't really ask about it because he knew that he was a rough subject for Annie. But Herb insisted that she come to practice the next day.

All day Annie was mentally preparing herself for it but when she finally got to the rink she just wanted to chicken out and go home. She sat in her car looking up at the rink for a while. Practice just got out so the guys would still be in there for another half an hour.

Annie took a deep breath and mentally kicked herself for even coming out in the first place. She was about to put her keys into the ignition when she heard a tap from her window. Startled, she looked up and saw that Silky was the one that tapped on her window. Before Annie could do anything else Silky opened the door to her car.

The red head thought that that was pretty rude. She got out of the car to tell him off but he already looked really pissed. She saw that Jimmy was there too, he didn't look mad at all. He looked like he had no idea what was going on.

"What the hell Silky?" Conway asked.

"Why are you here?" the hockey player spat back.

"I was just leaving," Annie told him. She turned around and was about to get in and close the door behind her, but Silky held the door so she couldn't go.

"Seriously, don't bother coming back at all. No one wants you here," Silk told her angrily.

"Fuck off," she sighed as she again tried to get into her car. She just wanted to leave.

"Don't you get that what you did was wrong..."

"Cut it out man," Jimmy cut him off. He gave Annie a sympathetic look. He wasn't taking sides because as far as he was concerned it was Mac's, Annie's, and OC's fault that this happened the way it did.

"No man, I'm not even done yet," he turned coolly to Jimmy, then faced Conway again, "You purposely went behind your best friend's back to go out with someone he hates. You're a horrible person."

"You don't know the whole story so why don't you just shut up," Annie wanted him to back off.

"Yeah whatever," Silky rolled his eyes, "Just don't fuck around with Mac anymore."

"Oh please," Annie couldn't believe this bullshit, "Why do you even care?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE BREAKING UP THE BAND, YOKO!"

With that Annie didn't hold back anything. She tried so hard in this conversation to just leave and not start anything, but he crossed the line with that one. It's not like she didn't know what she did was wrong. She stayed in her dorm room alone for days thinking about everything. She didn't need him to make it sink in even further. So, Annie slapped him on the face. She slapped him hard.

She remembered that one time she slapped OC in front of everybody. That was the first time she slapped anybody like that before. This was no different, in fact this one was probably worse. But if Annie could forgive OC for doing something horrible to her, why couldn't he forgive her?

She didn't have much time to think about that because by that point a few more members of the team were outside watching what just happened. Neither Mac nor OC were there though. She knew the guys were there but she didn't even want to look at them. She just got in her car and drove off.

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**KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK**

OC opened the door and he saw his ex-girlfriend, Rachel. After everything that happened, OC realized that Rachel was right the whole time. He wanted to apologize and maybe make things right again.

"You called," she sighed as she entered the room. She didn't seem like she was in a mood to talk.

"Yeah," OC closed the door behind them, "I needed to talk to you about a few things."

"Ok," the blonde was confused and pissed off, "Speak."

"I wanted to apologize for everything that happened between us at the end. I shouldn't of written you off just because Conway was my best friend. I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

He really meant that, which means something must've happened. Rachel knew OC pretty well and knew something was bothering him.

They both sat down on the bed and Rachel asked, "What happened?"

"You were right," OC found the words hard to say, it was just so hard to believe, "Mac and Conway were together all along."

"What?" Rachel was shocked. She couldn't believe that Annie lied to her, especially when she asked only a few days before. Rachel regretted that and thought what she did was really bitchy, it turns out that Annie was the bitch all along.

"Yeah," OC nodded, "I caught them making out in front of her house on New Year's Eve."

"Oh my God!" Rachel still couldn't believe Annie, "How long have they been together?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask questions," OC told her.

"Wow..."

"I know."

"Wow...what a slut!" Rachel was now really mad at her, "That very same day I asked her about it and she made me feel like the worst person in the world for even thinking about it. And for her to be lying that whole time. What's her problem??"

Just then Rizzo and Jimmy came in. OC shared the room with Rizzo. They were both a little stunned to see Rachel there because they knew that the couple broke up, but didn't know why.

"Hey OC," Rizzo greeted his friend, "Hey Rach. You and OC back together again...again?"

"I don't know yet," Rachel said calmly smiling, "I think so though."

"Sweet," Jimmy said, "Welcome back."

The two guys sat in front of the tv and did what they were originally planning on doing, play Pong. OC and Rachel talked a bit about Annie, which sort of pissed Jimmy and Rizzo off. They were all supposed to be friends.

"Jimmy," OC interrupted the hockey player, "What happened today after practice? I heard Conway showed up?"

"Why would she show up?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Jimmy blurted out before OC could say anything negative, "She was there. Silk said some things to her and she hit him."

"Well whatever he said, she deserved it," OC said.

"I heard she came because Herb called her last night and asked why she didn't come after practice yesterday," Rizzo told them.

"She should've just quit," Rachel added, "Nobody wants her there anymore."

At that point both Rizzo and Jimmy were pretty pissed. They had known both Conway and OC for the same amount of time and were good friends with the both of them. OC and Rachel were supposed to be very good friends with Conway and they were saying a lot of bad things about her. It seemed like high school and was just really unnecessary.

"What the hell guys?" Jimmy began.

"What?" OC asked. He had a right to be mad. His best friend betrayed him and lied to him. He wasn't gonna just let this go.

"Guys just stop,"Rizzo insisted to the two of them, "Conway is supposed to be your friend. The fact is that no matter what happened, Annie will always be Annie."

"She lied to me and went out with Mac! I can hardly stand that guy!" OC insisted, "She's just been a self absorbed bitch ever since she got that stupid makeover. And that's not your fault, Rach, you were just trying to help. She did that all on her own."

"You're ridiculous, OC! Even if she told you before they started going together that she liked him you wouldn't of let her go out with him," Jimmy told him.

"Yeah because I don't like the guy," OC insisted.

"It's not about you, man. It's about Conway!" Jimmy wouldn't let that go, "And the entire thing wouldn't of happened if you didn't keep interfering. I remember you stopped her date with that guy...what was his name...Tom!"

Before this was made into an even bigger thing, Rachel decided to cut in. After hearing their arguments she felt sort of bad about the whole thing, because they were right. She cared about OC a lot but they were right saying that OC kept interfering and that Annie deserved to be heard out too.

"You're right guys," she said to Rizzo and Jimmy, "She's my friend and she deserves for me to hear her out."

Before any of the guys could respond Rachel wanted to break the three of them apart, "Come on, OC. Let's go out and get some food."

OC reluctantly left and when they went out Rachel made sure that no talk of Annie and Mac came up. This was there time and she wanted the full story anyways.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

After practice the next day things in the locker room were still pretty tense and quiet. Jimmy and Rizzo didn't even want to talk to Silky or OC. OC didn't care too much anyways. He was meeting up with Rachel after practice to find out what happened between she and Annie. Rachel planned on going to her room to see her that morning.

OC was swept up in his thoughts, when someone came bursting in through the doors. It was Rachel. She seemed out of breath and looked really worried.

"Hey have any of you seen Annie?" she questioned.

She wasn't looking at the guys but she was looking around the locker room, as if Annie was hiding somewhere.

Rachel seemed really upset and freaked out, which worried Mac. A million thoughts came into Mac's mind, all ending with Annie being dead somewhere. He could sense that OC was looking at him, but he didn't care. He just wanted to know what was going on.

"No," Mark answered, "Why? What's going on?"

"Her grandfather passed away this morning..."

**So there it is. Please Read and Review :)**


	31. The Sounds of Silence

**Meadow567: Thanks for the review. And I was so happy when I read the Dawson's Creek thing because thats where I got the idea for the chapter. The episode that that happened was so cool, I couldn't resist doing it. I loved Dawson's Creek haha.**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for reviewing. Silky will redeem himself in the next chapter, but a few people redeem themselves here ;)**

**Anna: Thank the review :)**

**Rejazzz: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoyed it. There will be some OC/Annie/Mac melodrama in this chapter too! I hope you like it.**

**KOLU: I'm so happy that you like my story! Mac and OC are my favorite characters too lol. And yes, I am a senior. It sucks! It better get better after apps are due lol. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

**AN: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. I'm glad you liked it. Here's the next chapter. I got the name from a song by Simon & Garfunkel. This chapter is gonna come close to home for me because I lost my grandfather last summer. I tried to make Annie's portrayal of grief as realistic as possible. I think you will see how human she really is and I hope you all like it :)**

**Chapter 31**

_In 1969 Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote the book titled _"_On Death and Dying_". _This book became so well known because it contained what is known as "The Five Stages of Grief." The stages are in order as followed: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance._

_**Denial**_

"Her grandfather passed away this morning..." Rachel told them. She saw that they were all pretty stunned so before any of the guys could say anything Rachel told them her story, "Yeah. I was with her this morning and the phone rang and it was the hospital about him. We took my car and by the time we got there he was already gone...I haven't seen her since and she took my car. I have no idea where she is and I'm really starting to worry. I took a cab around town and looked everywhere...Can I please borrow someone's car so I can find her and make sure she's alright?"

She looked around the locker room and saw the guys were still pretty dumbfounded by the whole thing. The blonde looked at them with pleading eyes, just because they didn't like Annie right now gave them no right to be jerks and not help make sure she's okay.

As soon as Rachel looked at Robbie he tossed her his keys. It was the car he shared with his roommates, Mark and Bah. The whole locker room was quiet and even Rachel didn't know what to say. He really cared about Annie after all.

"Thanks," she gave him a blank expression before leaving the very surprised locker room.

The New Yorker didn't take too long finding her. In fact, Annie was right in front of the arena. She didn't seem upset at all. She looked as if nothing had happened at all. Rachel couldn't believe it.

"Annie, what the hell?" she angrily approached her. She wasn't mad at her about the car or anything, she was just upset because she was so worried about her and Annie looked normal.

"Hey Rach," she greeted as she threw her car keys, "Sorry about your car. I was just really late for work..."

"Work? What?" the blonde questioned as she caught them.

"Yeah," Annie nodded in a duh tone, "At my grandpa's friend's store."

"You went to work today?" Rachel couldn't believe it. Here she was spending over a hundred dollars for her cab ride looking in all the prominent bars in the Twin-City area, but she was working the whole time. This was gonna be a lot worse than she thought.

"Yep," the red head told her, "And if you don't move I'm gonna be late for my second job."

Annie tried to move past Rachel, but was stopped. Rachel held her arm so she couldn't go in. Annie gave her an angry expression.

"What are you doing?" Annie asked, in a mean tone.

"Me? What are you doing?" Rachel was losing her cool, "Your grandfather died a few hours ago and you don't care at all. You're acting like this is just some normal day and it's not! And don't you dare go in their because that locker room with all those guys is the last place you want to be right now considering everything that happened with you and Mac!"

"Whatever, I'm tired anyways. I'm gonna go home, take a nap, and pick up my parents and brother at the airport," Annie shrugged as she walked away from Rachel and the arena all together.

"Your grandfather just died today! Aren't you gonna give a crap at all?" Rachel called out to her.

Annie just ignored her and kept walking. Rachel took a deep breath. She felt sort of bad for yelling at Annie the way that she did, but somebody had to knock some sense into that girl. What was her problem? Her grandfather is dead!

Rachel stuck around a bit at the arena, waiting for the guys to be done with team meetings. She wanted to give Mac his keys back and the guys probably wanted to know what was going on with Annie anyways. She was gonna tell them not to see her because she's not in a good place right now. She's acting like nothing happened, and her real feelings on the matter will eventually make her want to explode.

Rachel thought about this matter all while waiting for the guys to all come out. At first, because she was so deep in thought, she didn't even notice them.

"Hey," she felt Mac touch her arm to get her attention.

"Hi," she immediately snapped out of her train of thought. Then she remembered the keys, "Here are your keys. I didn't need them."

"Did you see Annie?" he asked. By then a few of the guys were surrounding them. They wanted to hear what she had to say and were also surprised to see how much Mac cared about how Annie was. They all cared but he looked really worried all during meetings and now especially. Maybe it wasn't some stupid fling.

"Yeah I did," she told him sadly, "She's not a good place right now. Her family is flying in today but, I don't think any of you guys should see her right yet. I'm sorry."

Before Mac or anybody else on the team could say anything else Rachel walked out. She walked really fast because she felt like she was gonna lose it any second now. Despite what most people thought, Rachel was very sensitive and hated dealing with death. The reason she wanted to be a doctor was so she could save as many lives as she could.

Her eyes were a little teary when she got into her car. She forcefully slammed the car door shut and rest her head on the steering wheel for a moment.

"God, Annie, why can't you just pretend to care?"

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_**Anger**_

Annie waited at the terminal for her family to come off the plane. She really liked the nap before she left, it was good rest before she had to deal with her parents. She loved them, but she hadn't even seen them for seven months, and she didn't want to see them under these circumstances. She didn't really want to deal with them at all actually.

The redhead saw her parents and brother come off the plane. They were one of the last to be off. But they weren't alone. Katherine, OC's little sister, came with them. She was a little close to the family, not as much as OC though. She probably came to see OC as well as go to the funeral and be with Charlie.

"Hey ma. Hey pop," she hugged both of her parents. She missed them a lot but couldn't help but resent them. She was mad that they didn't see her more in Minnesota.

"Charlie," she smiled at her little brother. They got in their fair share of arguments but she still loved him, and he's matured a lot since becoming a senior.

"Hi Katherine," she gave a light hug to OC's little sister, "It's nice that you came."

While going to baggage claim, Annie stayed silent. It was mostly just her parents discussing which family members were going to the funeral and what not. Annie didn't really want to be a part of that conversation so she just stayed in the background with her brother and Katherine.

"Oh god, we didn't even get a hotel," Annie's mother thought aloud once they were all in the car.

"It'll be fine, mum. There are a ton of hotels. And Charlie and Katherine can stay with me. My roommate isn't coming back until the end of the month anyways."

"Are you sure?" Annie's father asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, "Positive."

The car ride was pretty awkward. Charlie and Katherine both sensed that Annie wasn't in that great of a mood because her parents. And she had every right to be angry with them. Her parents, however, did not catch on.

"Did you make any arrangements for the funeral yet?" her mother asked.

"Mom, are you serious!?" her voice grew very loud, "Gramps just died this morning. I haven't planned anything yet."

"Sorry," her mom immediately tried to calm down the situation.

"You should be! Expecting me to plan the funeral! Expecting me to visit gramps as much as I did! Expecting me to move everything out of _your_ house, Ma! Those were you're memories, not mine!" Annie let her true feelings out.

"Annie, we didn't expect you to do anything. You _chose_ to come here for medical school. We would've been perfectly happy with you going to BU," Annie's father defended his wife.

"The reason I came was because I made a promise to gramps," Annie said, "And it's not like you guys were doing anything. You just stuck him in a home."

"Because he wasn't well!" Annie's mom tried, "And as soon as we knew of his condition, the entire plan changed. Hun, you were just too stubborn to accept that. But that's just who you are babe, and that's what we love about you. But gramps was old and he lived a nice long life."

Annie just shrugged and didn't want to speak anymore. Even if she did, she wouldn't know what to say. The rest of the car ride was silent until Annie's parents left. Then Annie was gonna drive Katherine, Charlie, and herself back to her room.

"So, how's my brother doing?" Katherine asked Annie.

"I wouldn't know," Annie shrugged, "We don't talk anymore."

"What?" her little brother couldn't believe it, "Why the hell not?"

"I...it's nothing," Annie tried. She knew that they'd understand a bit, but she really didn't want to go through the whole story again.

"Come on! Was Jack being a fucking asshole again?" Katherine's true Boston accent showed.

"No," Annie shook her head, "I screwed up. It's all my fault."

"Come on, sis. It can't be that bad," Charlie tried.

"I bet my brother has some blame in this," Katherine added, "He always does."

"Nope," Annie insisted. Then she realized that they'd never let this down so she told them, "I went out with a guy he doesn't like behind his back."

"Who?" both Katherine and Charlie asked in unison.

"Robbie McClanahan," Annie blushed a bit. She was a little embarrassed saying the story to her brother and his girlfriend.

"That's it?" Katherine asked, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Katherine, OC hates that guy! And it wasn't one date, it was like more than two months," Annie explained.

"That's lame!" Katherine complained, "Jack is such a freak. He needs to get over himself. He's just pissed he lost the championship in '76. He won in '78, I don't see why he's bitching."

"Katherine..." Charlie tried.

"No! It's not even you're fault at all, Annie. You can go out with whoever the fuck you want. Don't worry, I'll talk to him," Katherine insisted.

"I don't think he wants to," Annie warned her..

"Trust me, he will."

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After OC found out about Annie's grandfather he didn't know what to do. Annie was his best friend and he knew that he should be with her but he was just mad at her. He couldn't lie to her and tell her everything was gonna be okay when it wasn't.

The hockey player wanted to take his mind off of it for a few hours and just go out to eat with Rizzo and Silky. He knew that they would try to bring it up, but he could always change the subject. Unfortunately for him, they didn't need to bring it up. He was shot with a big dose of reality as soon as he walked into the restaurant.

"Hey OC!"

OC heard the familiar voice and looked around the restaurant. He saw Annie's parents waving right at him. Clearly, they had no idea that Annie and he weren't speaking. Silky and Rizzo didn't know them too well, only meeting them once or twice. OC didn't want to be rude so he went up to their table to greet the couple who were like second parents to him.

"Shawn! Colleen!" he plastered on a big smile. Some of it was fake but deep down he was really happy about seeing them.

"Hey, son. How are ya?" Annie's mom asked.

"I'm doing alright. I'm sorry to hear about you're father though. I heard this afternoon," OC gave his condolences.

"Thank you," Mrs. Conway smiled, "He lived a long life though. And he's in a better place right now."

"So how's Annie doing?" Annie's father asked OC, "She didn't say too much in the car. You were probably with her right when she found out. Is she holding up ok?"

OC felt horrible. He didn't know what to say and it took a minute to come up with his half ass response, "Yeah," he lied, "I haven't seen her too much, but she's just not in a good place right now. Give her a few days she'll be fine. Like when her grandma died a few years back."

"You're right," Mr. Conway nodded, "Thanks Jack."

"I've gotta go," OC just wanted to not be there anymore, "I've got friends waiting. I'll see you too later though."

"Bye Jack," the Conways said in unison.

Jack left their table and felt like he was gonna vomit. Walking over to the table his friend's got he didn't even know what to say.

"Who needs a drink," OC asked, not wanting to talk about Annie or think about her for the rest of the night.

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_**Bargaining**_

That night Mac finally decided to see Annie. He didn't care if she wasn't up to it, he knew that he should have been there to begin with. He felt like the biggest jerk for leaving her on New Year's Eve, but he had to talk to the team.

**Knock, Knock, Knock**

He knocked on the door to his girlfriend's dorm room, hoping she wasn't with her parents or anyone. The door opened but it wasn't Annie that answered. It was her brother, Charlie.

"Yeah," her brother greeted Mac.

"Hey. Is Annie here?" Mac tried to be as nice as possible, but he guessed that Charlie already knew the full story.

"No. She went out," Charlie replied.

"Do you know when she'll be back?" the hockey player asked.

"No," he gave a stern face and shook his head, "Don't even bother man. She really won't want to talk to you."

Before Mac could say anything back, Charlie closed the door right in his face. He deserved it a bit and he knew that. It was gonna take a lot to get Annie to talk to him.

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

After dinner, a few of the guys were planning on going out and catching a movie, but OC wasn't in the mood. He felt horrible after seeing Conway's parents and then lying to them. Annie was in a really bad place right now, but it won't take back what she did.

OC opened the door to his dorm room and found his little sister sitting on his bed and watching tv, waiting for him. He wasn't too surprised because he knew that she came with the Conways. But he didn't expect to see her until the following day.

"Hey," he greeted his little sister, who was sucked into some Three's Company rerun

"Hi," she nodded back.

"How'd you get in here?" he asked as he sat on the bed next to his sister.

"Bobby pin," she smiled at him and gave a little laugh.

She then got up and turned off the tv, "We need to talk."

"You're not pregnant are you?" OC was half joking, half serious.

"No!" she gave a look of disgust, "I mean about you and Conway. I talked to her about everything, what's your problem?"

"She lied to me, Katherine! What am I supposed to do? Pretend like it never happened?" OC defended himself.

"No. But all I'm saying is that Annie is a grown girl and she can go out with whoever the hell she wants," Katherine said.

"It's not that she went out with someone. It's that she went out with _him_, behind my back," OC told her.

"Maybe because she knew that you'd act like an asshole," Katherine wasn't holding anything back, "Besides that girl has put up with so much crap from you and she's always forgiven you, even when you're not sorry. And she's really sorry now. So just hear her out and forgive her, Jack."

"You're right," he sighed. His sister really got to him sometimes. But that's what she was supposed to do, knock some sense into him, "I'll talk to her after she deals with her grandfather's funeral and stuff."

"Praise the Lord!" Katherine let out a smile, "But I've gotta go back to Annie's dorm. Charlie's waiting and then..."

"What?" OC cut her off.

"Yeah," Katherine nodded, "Charlie and I are staying with Annie. Annie's out for a bit but she'll..."

"You're not staying with Charlie," OC got into his protective older brother mode that Katherine always hated.

"Yes I am!" Katherine tried, "Where else am I supposed to go?"

"You're gonna crash here with me. Or else I'm gonna tell mom and dad!" OC threatened.

"Jack, you're such an asshole!" she huffed before angrily going into the bathroom.

"Staying with Charlie? Please.." OC laughed to himself.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Mac went to see Annie, she went to explain herself to Herb. She hasn't been to work for the past three days and he must've known something was up. Hell, maybe he even knew the whole story. But she needed to explain herself to him and tell him her plans for the future.

**Knock, Knock, Knock**

After waiting about thirty seconds Herb opened the door. Annie immediately gave him an apologetic look. She didn't even call before coming by.

"Hi," she greeted, "I'm so sorry that I'm dropping in like this. But I really need to talk to you about a few things."

"Come on," he opened the door for her so she could enter his home.

The two then went into the kitchen and sat down at the table to talk.

"I'm really sorry to be disturbing you so late..." Annie apologized again.

"It's alright. I know about you and Mac," he told her.

"You do?" she questioned.

"Yeah," Herb nodded, "I just know you two are going together and OC is pissed about it but I don't know much else."

"Ohhh," was all she could say, "Well actually Mac and I went out for about two months and then before that we were together a few times too..."

"Really?" Herb didn't seem to shocked, "I've always thought something was going on there. So did Craig and Doc."

Annie couldn't help but laugh. It was so embarrassing having this talk, especially with Herb considering he is her boss.

"Yeah," Annie took a deep sigh, "Herb, I really think I'm gonna quit..."

Herb tried to say something but Annie went into a speech, that she rehearsed a bit on her way over, "No, Herb, you gotta hear me out. You hired me to make sure the team was getting along and to get them closer together and I've just done the opposite of that. I betrayed your trust and the trust of the team. And I've been thinking about this a while, even before my grandfather died and I really think..."

"Your grandfather died?" Herb cut her off.

Annie nodded, "This morning."

"I'm sorry"

"Thanks," Annie gave him a half smile, "But I wasn't even a good employee to begin with. Losing me won't be a major loss or anything."

"Yeah it will," Herb told her.

"No," Annie shook her head, he was making this even harder, "It won't. The guys don't even like me now. Besides, I'm leaving Minnesota. The only reason I came here was for my grandfather and now that he's gone I have nothing left here. I'm not gonna stick around."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Herb sighed, "You're dropping out of Medical School? You would have made a hell of a doctor. It's just a shame you're giving up your dream over this."

"Yeah," Annie put her head down. What Herb said about giving up made her feel in such shame, "I've gotta go though. Thank you for your time."

Annie got up and just wanted to leave as quickly as possible. But Herb stopped her.

"Say, when's the funeral?" Herb asked.

Annie turned to face her former employer, "I don't know yet. Probably Tuesday. You'll read about it in the obits section."

"Thanks," Herb nodded and he got back to looking at his files, what he was originally doing before she got there.

Annie let herself out.

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_**Depression**_

**January 9,1980**

Today was Rob McClanahan's twenty-second birthday. By now things have cooled down a bit since the Boston guys and the Minnesotans, so a lot of the team wished him a happy birthday when he came into the locker room before practice. But Mac didn't feel very happy about it. He still hasn't talked to his girlfriend since New Year's Eve and he missed her. That morning he read in the paper that also today was her grandfather's funeral.

Mac remembered first making plans with her about his birthday. It was during the Christmas week that everyone had off. Annie stayed with him the whole week because she didn't want to be alone, and it was great. They both started calling it "The Lost Week", and neither one of them really wanted it to end:

_Flashback_

"_I just wanna lie here all day," his girlfriend smiled up at him._

"_Me too," Robbie kissed her on the forehead, "And technically we can because neither of us has anything to do today."_

"_Very true," Annie giggled._

_The couple found themselves just lying under the covers on Robbie's bed. That week wasn't about sex or anything, which was a relief considering the almost pregnancy scared the shit out of both of them._

"_Hey Robbie..." Annie began._

"_Yeah," he looked down at her._

"_When's your birthday?"_

"_What?"_

"_When is your birthday? Is it coming up or did it already pass..."_

"_It's January ninth," he told her._

"_Oh good," she gleamed, "I'm gonna get you the best gift ever! I'm just so happy that it wasn't when we hated each other because then I would've felt bad."_

"_I remember that," Mac told her, "To be honest I never hated you, you were the one that hated me. I sorta had a crush on you all along."_

"_Really?" Annie laughed, "I thought you were cute when I first saw you. I think the reason I hated you was because of your name, not like who you are."_

"_Wow," he joked, "We were dumb."_

"_Yeah," she nodded, "I guess we were."_

"_When's your birthday?" Mac asked._

_This time Annie turned to face him. Their faces were only inches away from each other._

"_Valentine's Day."_

"_Are you serious?"_

_Annie just nodded her head._

"_In that case my gift to you has got to be doubly awesome."_

"_Not as awesome as my gift to you will be," she tried._

"_Wanna bet?" Mac laughed._

"_Well I would, but I don't want you to loose..."_

"_Really?" Mac pretended to get defensive._

"_Yeah," she smiled and nodded._

"_Really?" he questioned again._

"_Yes," she laughed._

_Robbie than started tickling her and she immediately flipped out. She was probably the most ticklish person. She couldn't stop laughing, "Stop it, Robbie! Stop!"_

Robbie snapped out of his train of though when he heard Craig Patrick come into the locker room. He was dressed in a suit rather than his normal practice clothes. Herb than followed inside with Doc. They too were wearing suits.

"Don't suit up today, boys," Herb addressed the team, "I want you all to go home and put your best suits on and meet back here in a half an hour. We're going to the funeral, because Annie is family too."

The guys really didn't say anything. Most of the guys hadn't seen or talked to her since finding out about she and Mac. After a few days without her, a lot of them missed her. She was funny and helped them out with their sore muscles after practice.

Mac couldn't help but look over at OC to see what he was thinking. He saw that OC was looking at him. Both of the boys looked away.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annie sat on a bench across the street from the church. It was still a little too early to go in. Her parents and brother were at the wake, but she didn't feel much like going. She didn't want to parade her grief as people told her how sorry they were for her loss. It was already bad enough...

This time alone gave her a little relief. She was around her family for days constantly, she needed some time just to think about everything and have a cigarette. She normally didn't smoke, but she did during stressful situations, like this. Right after OC found out about she and Mac, she had a pack a day.

Annie took her first cigarette of the day out of her purse and put it in her mouth. Putting the lighter up to it didn't start it. She tried to get the lighter to work a couple more times. By the fifth or sixth time it didn't work and she just threw her lighter in back of the bench, very pissed off. The cigarette was still inside her mouth and she was lost in thought until she saw her cigarette being lit by a person with a lighter. She looked up and saw a familiar face.

"You're a stress smoker too, huh?"

Annie gave a half smile, "Yeah. How are you doing, Rach?"

"I'm alright," her friend sat down next to her, "How about you?"

"Been better," Annie couldn't look at her, she just looked straight ahead, she then took a deep breath and looked down, "Sorry about what happened the last time I saw you. I was being a bitch. It was really inconsiderate of me to do what I did when you were only to to help..."

"It's alright," the blonde smiled at her, "I wasn't mad, I was just really worried. I think everyone was. I came from the wake, I heard that you were around..."

"Yeah. I couldn't deal with all of that," Annie finally looked at her friend and wanted to change the subject of her gramps, " And I wasn't even thinking when it all happened. I thought you were mad though because I hadn't heard from you since I saw you at the front of the arena."

"I went home for a bit," Rachel told her, "My family is back from their vacation. I needed to do some thinking too."

"Oh yeah? And what did you come up with?"

"That you and Mac really care about each other and that you didn't want OC to get mad because you care about him too. And that it was a really difficult time for you to deal with losing your best friend and your boyfriend and I was being really bitchy. I'm sorry about that..."

"I deserved it," Annie said, "All my lies caught up to me..."

"No, you didn't deserve it," Rachel tried.

Just then they saw the entire funeral party coming from the funeral home down the street. They all parked in front of the church and filed in. It was time for the funeral.

"Well Conway, it's now or never," Rachel said.

Annie took a deep breath, "Let's go..."

The two girls got up but didn't go far before Annie gave Rachel a big hug, "I'm so sorry for lying to you about everything. I wish I told you..."

"It's okay," Rachel hugged her friend back.

From that point on it was understood that everything between them was going to be alright. They walked across the street and went into the church. Upon entering, Annie and Rachel saw Herb, Doc, Craig, and the whole team seated inside the church. Annie couldn't believe it and she wasn't sure if she was ready to deal with them all yet.

"It's gonna be ok," Charlie said. He must've been waiting for his sister by the door. But it wasn't about anything she suspected, "I saw you smoking. I'm a stress smoker too."

He then gave her a piece of gum, "Mom and Dad will never know."

"Thanks," she gave her brother a funny look, "We'll have a discussion about this later."

"I'll see you after Annie," Rachel smiled and left the siblings to find a seat.

"Yeah," Annie nodded before she put the gum inside her mouth, "Let's go."

Annie saw Rachel sit next to OC, followed by some whispering. But Annie didn't want to look at the team. She felt them all looking at her as she walked by but instead pretended not to see them by talking to her brother instead. They talked all the way up the aisle of the church until they got to the front row and sat down next to their parents.

The funeral was short. It was only a small prayer service, just like he said he wanted in his will. Right next to the church was a small cemetery where he was laid to be buried. It was pretty cold outside so that only last about ten minutes.

During the burial she would sometimes look up at the guys. She thought about it a bit and was happy that they were there. She knew it would take a lot before it could go back to normal, if that ever happened, but them being there gave her something to smile about. She missed them all. One time she even looked up at Herb and he looked up at her. She mouthed, "Thank you." to him and he nodded at her in return.

Following the funeral there was to be a reception at Annie's bosses house. He was a good friend to her grandfather, which is part of the reason she got the job at the store to begin with. Annie was walking to her car with her brother when she heard her best friend from behind her...

"Conway," Annie turned around and saw OC, "We need to talk."

Charlie then left and caught up with Katherine, his girlfriend, leaving OC and Annie alone together for the first time in a while.

"Yeah," the red head nodded, "We do."

Annie walked over to him, but before she could think of anything smart to say to defend her actions or to discuss the fight at all, she gave him a big hug. It was major, as if she was holding onto him for dear life.

"I've missed you," she told him.

At first OC was a little taken aback by this act, but then realized that she was going through a really difficult time with her grandfather and she didn't need him to make it worse.

"I've missed you too, Conway."

The two best friends released from the hug. Annie looked up at him, "I'm really happy you came."

"Yeah," he nodded, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks," she gave him a half smile, "Let's drive for a bit."

The two walked towards Annie's car and got in. Annie didn't drive to her boss's house because she wanted to talk to OC without anyone else bothering them. The car ride was pretty silent until she parked her car in the abandoned parking lot of the hockey arena that the team practiced at.

"I don't know what to say," Annie looked at the arena instead of her friend.

"Me neither," OC shrugged, "I guess first off I want to apologize for how I handled all of it and what I said to you..."

"Don't!" Annie interrupted, "You were right about that. I have changed, I felt stuff not being right between us for a while because of that. But I can't help that! I'm a grown up now!"

"Yeah," OC bit his lip, "But also just my entire reaction was messed up. I'm not saying I wasn't pissed about you and Mac, but I probably would've done that if it was any guy."

"Well you've always been a bit protective, OC," Annie gave a half smile. It was true but she never understood why.

"For a good reason," he told her, "I've heard stories about you before we met."

"Really?" she felt ashamed, she was a really awful person before they met.

She was the school slut in seventh and eighth grade before he entered in ninth grade. She didn't become a tomboy because of him. The summer before entering high school she had sex for the first time, to a guy she didn't know, and she regretted it every single day.

"Yep," OC nodded, "But I didn't care. I actually defended you a few times too. Got in some fights...But I knew that you were a better person than before. And I knew you wouldn't of wanted to talk about with me anyways, because it sucked that much... I didn't want that to happen to you again, that's why I never really liked the idea with you having a boyfriend..."

"Wow," Annie had no idea, "I'm sorry we never talked about that. It was so long ago...Ever since that experience and meeting you I have changed, and I know I'm a better person now. But it was so long ago, I'm ready to actually be a girl and experience life again..."

"I know that now," OC told her, "I just didn't want to see you get hurt again..."

Annie gave him a hug again. All he wanted to do is protect her, he didn't do it purposely to make her unhappy. That's why he was her best friend.

"Robbie is a great guy, OC," his best friend tried, "He really is. And he makes me so happy... The reason I didn't tell you was because I knew that you wouldn't like that. I'm sorry for not telling you, but I'm not going to apologize for being with him because I'm not sorry for that..."

"Thinking now," the hockey player began, "I don't think it was him. For a long time I thought it was but I guess I just didn't want you to be with anybody. I mean he's an alright guy. Not my favorite person, but I don't hate his guts anymore..."

"He wouldn't of OC," she smiled, "And to be honest I was gonna go out with him even without your blessing. I'm a big girl now and it's time that I make my own mistakes. You're not gonna be there to protect me forever.."

"I know," he nodded.

The two sat in the car for another five minutes until they realized that they should be getting to the reception. Annie went into her purse to look for her keys when the pack of cigarettes fell out. OC gave her a confused look.

"I'm a stress smoker," she said calmly, "Now you know all my secrets."

OC couldn't help but give a small chuckle. The two newly reacquainted best friends drove off to the house for the reception. The car ride was mostly silent, ironically "You Can't Always Get What You Want" was on the radio. That was her grandfather's favorite song.

When they arrived back at the house, they saw a few of the guys from the team standing outside the house and talking. One of the guys there was Mac. He was the last person she needed to talk to. OC and Conway get out of her car and she tried her best to give a straight face. To her surprise, OC directed the guys to go back into the house. He knew that Annie wanted to talk to Mac by herself. She honestly didn't know if she still wanted to be in a relationship with him after everything that happened, and both OC and Mac knew that too.

"Hi," she smiled awkwardly at him.

"Hey," he greeted back, "I'm really sorry about you're grandfather..."

"Thanks," she gave a half smile, "Do you wanna go for a walk?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

He got down from the steps and the two began walking around the block. They had a hell of a lot to talk about...

"Annie," Mac was the first to speak up, "I'm so sorry for leaving you on New Year's. It's just that I didn't know what to do and that was a fight between you and OC. I didn't want to make it worse..."

"Ohhhh..."

"Yeah," he nodded, "But we can talk about that later, if you want. How are you holding up?"

"Like my grandfather just died and..." Mac cut her off.

"Here let's sit down," Robbie led her to stone steps leading up to some house. It was ok to sit there because there wasn't even a car in the driveway so no one was home.

"Thanks," she tried to smile. It was sort of selfish but during this whole ordeal she thought as much about her situation with OC and Mac as she did her grandfather. Now that OC seemed ok, she shifted everything to her situation with gramps, and that made her really sad.

"Annie..." he saw her beginning to tear up. This was going to be the first time she cried ever since finding out about her grandfather.

"No," she shook her head, "Don't. It's my fault this all happened. Gramps is dead because of me... I wasn't there for him enough... I was too busy worrying about stupid school shit and how to be with you and keep it secret from everyone... It all just seems so stupid now... I don't ... I don't know... I just didn't do enough..."

She collapsed into his arms. He held her tight, a lot tighter than OC. She could tell that he missed her as much as she missed him.

"It's not your fault..." he whispered into her ear. He could say that a hundred times but Annie wouldn't of listened to him.

Annie just cried in his arms for a few more minutes. Then she wiped always her tears and sat up. They both just stayed on the stone steps, not knowing what they even were at that point. He could feel that she didn't want to talk about him and that that moment was the first time she even talked about it, about how she blamed herself.

"So..what do you want to do now?" he asked. Both he and her knew that meant a lot more than it sounded. He meant what she wanted to do with their relationship, if there was any left.

"Do you want to just sit here," Annie tried to ignore the deeper context.

"Sure," he nodded.

"Happy birthday Mac..."

"Thanks."

For the rest of their time together, the two sat on the cold stone steps in silence, not even looking at one another.

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_**Acceptance**_

Days following the funeral Annie tried to keep herself busy by working all day at the store. Her family and Katherine already left and she was basically alone now. She tried her best to avoid everyone because she just didn't want them to see her like this. She was very upset and couldn't stop blaming herself.

"Annie," the shopkeeper said, "Go home! You've been working 'round the clock since the funeral."

"I know," the red head gave a half smile, "I just really don't have anything else to do."

"What about studying for exams?"

"I'm dropping out of school..." Annie said. That was the first time she even thought about it since talking to Herb.

"That's a real shame..." her boss said.

"Yeah, I've been told."

"You would've made a great doctor. Your grandfather thought you would..."

Annie gave him a confused look. She knew that the man was pretty good friends with her grandfather but she didn't expect that he'd talk about her that much.

"You wanna know how I know that, huh?" he chuckled, "Well, after you're grandfather first got diagnosed with Alzheimer's we all tried to see him as much as possible because we knew that one day he wouldn't even remember. And I remember one time, right before it got really bad, I asked him how you and Charlie were. And just mentioning your name made his whole face light up..He told me that you were gonna be a doctor. That you were one of the smartest and kindest people he's ever met and that he was proud to know you..."

Annie could feel her stomach drop. She didn't even know what to say. Her boss saw that she looked a little upset by what he said.

"I'm sorry if that makes you upset, kid. But if someone ever said that about me I'd wanna know. You're grandfather was a good man. I'm terribly sorry for you're loss..."

Annie just stood there frozen. She just needed to be alone.

"Can I...can I get off now?" she asked nervously.

"Of course...you have a good night."

She would normally tell him to have a nice night too but she made a bee-line for the front door and left the store as quickly as possible. She then went to her car and unlocked the door. As soon as she sat in the car she started to ball. Hearing what her grandfather said killed her. She couldn't believe she was acting so selfish for the past few days. She blamed herself and didn't even realize that he was actually dead, and never ever coming back. She was going to miss him so much. This was the real time she actually thought about this. This was the real time she was actually by herself so she can cry about this and just be alone to deal with it herself.

"I love you so much Gramps. I'm so sorry..."

**Well there it is. I hope you all liked it. It was pretty longgggg lol. Please review :)**


	32. Should I Stay or Should I Go

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the review! I'm happy you liked the Five Stages of Grief and the fluff!**

**Rejazzz: Thanks for reviewing! Annie was really difficult to write for in this chapter because she's all over the place. I'm really really happy you liked it :)**

**KOLU: Thanks for the review! And I totally feel the same way, awkward boys are cute. Especially hockey players! I'm happy you liked it.**

**Meadow567: Thanks for reviewing! Five Stages of Grief was really fun to write, I'm glad you liked it.**

**AN: Well here it is! I've been so busy since my last post that I wanted to wait until I was on break to post this one but then I got an extreme case of writers block! I had no idea what to do! Anyways, here it is. I hope you all like it. This is what I came up with after all that writers block crap was over. So enjoy and review when you're done! P.S this is the anniversary of the Miracle on Ice!! **

**Chapter 32**

"So it's true...Annie Conway is leaving Minnesota."

The red head, who was packing up her dorm room, heard a familiar voice talk to her from behind. She turned around and saw Dave Silk leaning against the door.

"Uh oh, you caught me," Annie sarcastically replied.

"Not only that, I was the one appointed to talk some sense into you..."

Annie laughed a bit then got serious, "You aren't the first. You talked to Robbie, didn't you?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Perfect."

She and Robbie talked the night before. It was about a week after the funeral and Annie was getting better. She hadn't gone back to work or seen the guys too much, with the exception of OC and Rizzo, because she didn't want to disappoint them. Annie was planning on leaving and she didn't want to stick around much longer. She really didn't have anything left in Minnesota with her grandfather gone and the old house sold.

_Last Night_

"_Annie, you can't leave..."_

"_Robbie, please don't even start with me. I've heard enough from OC"_

_Earlier that day, after practice, OC told the team that Annie was planning on going back to Boston in a couple of days and never coming back. Mac hadn't even seen her since the funeral. They left things off at such a weird point. They were together, but not, but on a break. Mac couldn't even explain it._

"_C'mon Annie, be serious, we don't want you to leave. You're like family, we need you," Mac tried._

_Annie was pretty upset. This is the first time since the funeral that she's seen him and he's lecturing her. He was making this move harder than it already was._

"_Oh yeah, you all need me? Then why haven't you or anyone else besides OC and Rizzo called me or came over here?" Annie asked, her voice was shaking and she didn't know why._

_Before Robbie could answer Annie continued to talk, in a shaky and upset voice, "And what if I do stay, huh? This time next month we're gonna be in Lake Placid and then what? Everyone will be gone, baby, and what am I gonna do? OC is going to Chicago, you're going to Buffalo, my grandpa is dead, the house is sold, Rachel thinks Minneapolis is too small for her so she isn't sticking around, probably going to Chicago with OC. I'm gonna be all alone!"_

"_How did you know about Buffalo?" Mac asked. He never told her about playing for the Sabres after the Olympics_

"_How could I not know, Mac? I'm a tomboy from Boston, OC's my best friend, I've known since before I met you..."_

_There was silence in the room for a moment. Annie then spoke up, "Please leave."_

"_What about us? If you leave..."_

"_Mac, get serious. There is no us anymore. There is a you and a me. There hasn't been an us since OC caught us kissing outside the house on New Years."_

"_I guess this is goodbye then."_

"_Goodbye"_

_Mac left the room and closed the door on his way out. She was a little teary eyed. She wanted to be with him but there was no point. She was leaving and didn't want to hurt him anymore than she already had..._

"None of us want you to go," Annie snapped out of her train of thought.

"Well that's too bad because...wait why would you care anyways?" Annie questioned.

Silky gave her a confused look.

"Shouldn't you be glad that Yoko is leaving the band and John Lennon after all..." Annie remembered their last encounter.

"Oh," Silk's memory came back, "I'm really sorry about that... I didn't mean it."

"Yeah you did."

"Come on Conway, we are so close to the Olympics. It just won't be the same without you..."

"I still have my hotel room at Lake Placid. Herb kept it because they don't give refunds. I might go to see some games," the red head told him.

"Well what about these three weeks leading up to the Olympics, it's not the same in the locker room after practice," Silky tried.

"You guys seem to have been fine for these past two weeks without me. I'm sure you'll be fine for the next three until the Olympics," Annie insisted. She wasn't gonna make this easy on Silky.

"We all have cared about you! It's not our faults we haven't seen you. We've had night games a lot lately and if not..."

"And if not you just don't care," Annie finished his sentence.

"We did care!" Silky defended, "You're the one that kept all the secrets. You're the one that had an affair with Mac and didn't say anything. And now you just want us to forgive you! You didn't even apologize! And after that all came out the team was in really bad shape and all you did was stay in your dorm room all day smoking cigarettes and watching General Hospital. So I guess we're all sorry that we didn't rush to your side the second that everything happened but none of us knew what to think. And now that you're leaving we realized that we need you. So please just stay for God sakes!"

Annie couldn't help but laugh a bit at his speech. He was just so into it, he must've practiced it a few times.

"What's so funny?" Silk got a little mad.

"Affair..." Annie cracked up, "That was the best word you came up with?"

"It was between that or rendezvous," Silk joked.

"How did you know I smoked? OC didn't say anything did he?" Annie still laughing a bit asked.

"No, I've actually known for a while. I saw you smoke outside of Walter Brown Arena while you were waiting for OC after a game," Silky explained. He must've known since their days at BU.

"Wow," Annie was shocked he never said anything before, "I'm only a stress smoker anyways. It must've been during finals."

"Yeah it was actually," Silk agreed.

"I'm sorry for slapping you," Annie changed back to an earlier subject.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you in front of everyone," he apologized again.

It was really nice to make up with Silky. Annie and he had always been good friends since they both went to BU. She thought a lot about what he said about the team, and she wanted to be with them but knew that she couldn't do that. Then she'd have to stay at the U and she didn't want to be there anymore.

"Are you gonna at least consider staying?"Silk gave his puppy dog face. It worked all the time when he used it for Annie.

"Yeah I'll think about it..but don't get everyone's hopes up," Annie warned him, trying to ignore the look, and giving him a look of her own.

"I won't," Silk laughed, "I'll see you later, Conway."

"Bye Silky," the two hugged and then the hockey player left, leaving Annie to pack and a whole lot to think about.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Did you talk to Conway last night?" Bah asked Silk during warm ups.

"Yeah I did," Silk nodded, "It's pretty definite she's leaving, but she might go to Lake Placid because she still has the room."

"Do you think she'll go?" Buzz asked.

"I do," Silk told them all, "I gave her the look. It works every time."

"What look is that?" Mac laughed. He hadn't told the team about the break up yet. He didn't want to believe it. He still thought he could get her to stay.

"The puppy dog look. I use it only on the ladies," Silk tried to sound cool.

"Yeah, he uses it to beg for sex," Coxy joked.

After practice and showers the guys continued their discussion about Annie. She was leaving that day and they wanted to stop her from doing that. A lot of them hadn't talked to Annie too much since finding out about her and Mac. They wanted to hang out with her a bit.

"We should all ask her to stay," Pav suggested.

"Trust me, I've tried and Mac's tried. I don't think all of us will stop her," Silk said.

"Maybe it will," Ramsey tried.

"I don't think she doesn't want to be with us. She just doesn't want to be in Minnesota all together," Mac realized.

"We've already established that man," OC said.

"No," Mac said, "She just doesn't want to go to the U. What if she stayed in Minnesota until after the Olympics and then went back to Boston?"

"Where would she stay? She has hardly any money and she dropped out of the U. She doesn't have a dorm room anymore," Jimmy said.

"She can stay with us," Mark suggested looking right at Mac, "It's not like she hasn't before."

Some of the guys made a 'Ohhhh' noise and all laughed. Mac felt sort of awkward because he never talked to OC about any of this. That and the fact that they 'broke up'.

"We can all ask her to stay when she comes by today. She has to come down here to say good bye to us," Rizzo told them.

"Yeah," some voices of the team were heard.

Minutes passed and there was no sign of Annie. Some of the guys became pretty bored pretty quickly. Then they heard the door to the locker room open and thought it was her...it wasn't. It was Craig Patrick instead.

"So Annie was here earlier. She wrote a note..." Craig held up a letter for the guys all to see. It was a good bye letter.

"Read it aloud," Mac said.

Craig gave him a questioning look in which Mac responded, "Just do it." He knew it was over now.

Craig began to read aloud:

**Hey guys,**

**I don't know what to say really. I'm not very good at good byes so I guess this was the best I could do. I hope Craig is reading this to you guys all in the locker room in some big dramatic way...**

**Look I'm gonna miss you guys, a lot. And since I'm not gonna be around I wanna tell you guys a few things. Verchota, when you're on the ice pay attention to the game and save the girls until after, and make sure your girlfriend Margaret isn't there or she'd kick your ass. Baby Rammer, good luck in Buffalo, hopefully the team doesn't baby you too much. Silky, you were silly to think that look would work on me. It honestly never has, I just always thought you must've been desperate to use that face. Like the time you begged me to talk to Molly Waverly to try to convince her to go back to your dorm room during that party after Beanpot Final in '78. Rizzo, I left you my hair straightener. I've always told you that it looks better that way and all the girls think so too. Bah, Buzz, and Pav, my coneheads, remember to always watch SNL, even when you have a game earlier that night, I swear you guys should write for that show. Magic, you're gonna be MVP of this team. Now when you get to Lake Placid, I want you to exploit that to the ladies as much as possible. Seriously I want to hear reports of at least one date or heavy flirting. You're too shy for you're own good. Jimmy, keep you're head up and you're glove on. Jannie, shave you're mustache. You look like you have a dead caterpillar on you're face. Coxy, same goes for you.**

There were a few more and then Craig got to the most important two: OC and Mac.

**OC, you're my best friend on this whole planet. I don't know the next time I'm gonna see you again. Gloria **(car)** is no good so I might have to steal Betsy **(car) **back from my brother so I can drive out to Chicago to see you. I can't take a plane ever, I'm sorry. But I pinky promise that I'm gonna see you and that I'll stop naming my cars or any other inanimate object for that matter. Take care of Rach, she really loves you, God knows why.**

**And finally Robbie McClanahan. Last but not least. I'm really sorry about what happened the last time we saw each other. And I'm sorry if I hurt you even though you never said I did. I'm never gonna forget the "lost week" and everything that you've done for me. Thank you for driving me home and giving me that towel to dry my hair and listening to Rolling Stones and hating Abba and staying with me that night I got sick and buying me Orange juice and offering to take me to Fargo and for refusing to leave my house that night on that certain night in mid-December, you were right, I was too scared to be alone. And thank you for fixing my car even though you lied in order to do it. I still think your a fucking genius for failing shop, don't ever think different. Heads up, Star Wars is gonna be on CBS next Saturday. I think you should watch. I might have to call you during the bridge scene. That kiss was for luck, Leia is in love with Han. Luke is too...ordinary for her. She likes the danger.**

**Anyways, good luck in Lake Placid everyone. I'm still not sure if I'm gonna go or not. I've gotta work some things out at home. But even without me you all are gonna do great. I mean really great. I honestly think you guys can win a medal. I'm thinking Bronze. Bronze is a good color especially for Buzzy's skin tone, right Buzz? Sorry if I embarrassed anyone in this letter. It would've been too hard to say it in person. So I guess this is it, the bottom of the page. Good bye boys, thanks for the memories.**

**Annie Conway**

After the letter was read the whole locker room remained silent a little longer. She was really gone. They didn't want to believe it was true before but now it's official. She's gone and she's not coming back. That letter hit them all pretty hard, especially Mac. He didn't want the last time he saw Annie to be like it was, with she breaking up with him in her dorm room.

Mac didn't really know how to respond to the letter. He just wanted to be alone. He was the first to get up and leave the locker room after that letter. Mac was only by himself up to his walk to his car, Mark and Bah could get another lift home. Mac heard somebody following him and he turned around. It was OC.

"What do you want man?" Mac was seriously not in the mood.

"Do you love her?" OC asked.

"What?"

"Do you love her?" OC asked slowly as if he was talking to a five year old.

"So what if I do or don't. She's gone and there's nothing I can do about that. You should be happy anyways, she's not with me anymore."

"I'm not happy about that. It just seems like from the letter that she really gave a rat's ass about you, I don't know why but... whatever. She seemed pretty upset about leaving you..."

"What's your point?"

"My point is, man, that she really cares about you and you really care about her. And I don't hate you anymore. Just don't fuck it up..."

"It's a little late, she's gone," Mac told him.

"This weekend is a long weekend, no practice on Monday," OC began then he gave him a little folded piece of paper, "Boston is pretty cold this time of year."

Mac opened the piece of paper. It had an address on it. It was Annie's home address in Boston. He looked up at OC, who gave a whatever look. He acted like he hadn't done anything.

"Thanks man"

"Yeah whatev..."

OC was interrupted by Mac giving him an awkward man hug. Mac was very very right now. He gave a huge smile, "Thank you!"

An overjoyed Mac then got into his car. He had to go to his apartment and pack, he was going to Boston..

"Just don't fuck it up!" OC yelled at the car, Mac couldn't hear him and drove away.

"Ahhh letting go, baby," OC felt someone hug him from behind. It was Rachel, who was picking him up after practice.

"Yeah, I guess," OC looked down at his girlfriend, "Did you see her today?"

"Yeah, she said goodbye. I told her about Chicago..."

"I know, I think she's happy about us. She said to take care of you. You should be taking care of me! I want dinner every night seven o'clock!" he joked.

"Good! Me too! You better learn how to cook!" she teased back.

OC put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and kissed her on the forehead. They then walked to her car.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mac rushed home to pack. About halfway through he realized that Annie was driving, which meant that she probably wouldn't even get to Boston until the following evening. That and it was only Thursday. They had practice and a game the next day before their three day weekend, with Monday off. He didn't really think about that too much. He just continued to pack anyways, planing of leaving right after the hockey game the next night.

Then the phone rang...

Since Mac was the only one back at the apartment he picked it up.

"Hello"

"Mac" he heard a familiar voice say softly. It was Annie.

"ANNIE!" he then tried to sound cool, "I mean Annie! Hey, what's happening?"

"My car broke down. I think it's the same problem you helped me with right after Europe. Can you come help me out?"

"Where are you?" Mac asked already picking up his jacket, which he threw on the ground when he came in.

"I'm at the McDonalds...where we went after you fixed my car."

"You mean the McDonalds where we had our first date?"

"Yeah that too..." Annie sounded a little annoyed and tired.

"I'll be right there," Mac then hung up the phone and grabbed his keys from the table.

It didn't take long to get there. Ten minutes at the most. He found Annie waiting inside sitting at a table by herself. She didn't look too happy.

"Hey Annie," Mac walked up to her.

"Hey Mac," she gave him a half smile, "Thanks for coming."

"Where's the car?" he didn't see it in the lot.

"About a mile back. I walked here," she explained.

The two took Mac's car to Annie's broken down car. Luckily Annie got it to the side of the road so there wasn't any traffic jam. Mac took a look under the hood and Annie was right, it was the same problem.

"What's the prognosis doctor? Can you fix it?" Annie asked.

"Yeah I can," he nodded, "But I'm gonna need your help too."

"Get me a towel so I can fix it," he told her.

"Well I don't have a towel," she told him.

"I CAN'T KEEP GIVING YOU TOWELS!" Robbie yelled.

"What's that supposed to mean!?!" Annie knew it, he was trying to put deeper context in the conversation. He tries to do that a lot, with sometimes silly sounding results.

"I mean that I've done everything in my power to get you to stay. I've asked, I've had Silky ask, today we were all planning on asking you to stay by having you crash in the apartment with me, Bah, and Magic. Now we all want you to stay, we need you to stay. One of us is going home because it has to be twenty guys, we don't want to lose anyone else. Whether you like it or not, you're family. Now I can't keep doing this. I can't keep asking you to stay, I need you to talk to me. I need something to work with. I need you Annie Conway! I need you here. Everything is gonna be okay. OC and the team don't mind us being together anymore. But it's not about us right now, it's about you. You can stay here with me for a month and then go back to Boston after the Olympics or you can leave right now. I personally think you should stay, but my thoughts don't matter and their fixed anyways because I love you..."

Annie cut him off, "What?"

"I said I love you. Now I know that you didn't want to hear that but that's the truth. If that makes it any harder for you to leave then I'm not sorry because that's how I feel and I need to tell you that before you left, " the hockey player said.

Her eyes teared up a bit, "I just don't know what to do. In a month we'll be at the Olympics and then what?"

"Then...you can come live in Buffalo with me," he offered.

"Okay," she nodded her head.

"Okay what?" he asked. "Okay you'll come with me to Buffalo or okay you'll stay?"

"Both," she told him, "Robbie, I love you too."

She ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug she's ever given anyone her entire life. She didn't even want to let go.

"I'm so sorry about before," she whispered in his ear.

"It's ok, it's ok!" he tried.

Robbie then picked her up and spun her around. Annie just giggled, she loved it when he did that. They looked into each others eyes and were about to kiss when

**SPLAT**

The oil from the car splattered them, just like right after Europe. Robbie was about to get a towel to fix the car when Annie grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Not a chance McClanahan," she smiled. She then kissed him hard on the lips and he kissed back, neither cared about all the oil being splattered all over them.

**Well there it is. I really hope you liked it. Hopefully it was worth the wait. Happy anniversary to the Miracle on Ice. 28 years ago today! Anyways, please review :**


	33. Snow Day

**Rejazzz: Thanks for reviewing! Sorry for making you wait this long! It's all fluff with Mac/Annie. I think you'll like it :)**

**Meadow567: Thanks for the review!!**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked like all those parts! My personal favorite to write was the letter! It was a lot of fun! **

**KOLU: Thanks for the review! I'm happy you liked the "awkward man hug"! I wanted to put in a little funny part for the chapter! I'm glad you liked it!**

**AN: Wow, it's been so long and I am so incredibly sorry! I've been so busy with stuff lately and honestly I don't understand why. I'm a senior, school should be easy! That and I've been reading a new fic called _Life in the Fast _Lane by Vaughnloveralwaysandforev. It's so great! You all need to check it out! Anyways, thanks for waiting this long and this chapter is extra long and has a lot of fluff just for you because I feel so bad about leaving you guys for this long. I hope you like it! Please review when your done!**

**Chapter 33**

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Rachel couldn't believe what just heard.

"I gave him her address in Boston," OC sighed.

"Sweetie, he's gonna flip out. That boy gets excited when Scooby Doo comes on tv for Gods sake! He probably forgot it was only Thursday and packed his bags and left," the blonde told her boyfriend.

"He didn't," Bah cut in, "His bags are still in his room."

The team had their weekly dinner on Thursday nights and tonight it was at Mark, Mac, and Bah's apartment. They all noticed Mac's absence and when neither Mark nor Bah could explain it OC told them about giving him Annie's address in Boston. They all assumed he left to find her there. He wasn't very good at thinking things ahead. He would've forgotten that they had practice the next day and that he would be days ahead of her since she is driving.

"Where is he then?" Rachel asked. She went because she was one of the only ones that could cook a little. And sometimes girlfriends came, like Gail was going to come later that night.

Just then the door opened and Mac came in. He was all wet and some of his clothes were covered in black goo oil.

"Where the hell were you?" Verchota asked.

"Yeah, we were worried sick!" Silky pretended to sound very upset.

"Nowhere," he sighed.

Then a familiar face came to the door. It was a face many of them though they wouldn't see again. It was Annie Conway. She was wet and had some oil on her clothes too.

"Do you have room for one more?" she smiled at all her friends.

"Hey!!"

"Conway!!"

"Annie!"

The crowd cheered a bit when they saw her. She finally came to her senses. She was needed there. Annie laughed and the couple then sat down next to each other. Annie also sat next to Rachel. Annie winked at OC and he tipped his glass to her.

"What happened with you guys? Why are you covered in oil?" Pav asked.

"My car broke down," Annie explained, "And I called Robbie to fix it."

The two then explained how the car oil thing exploded on them. But they left out their conversation or the kiss that followed. That would remain between the two of them, until Annie would tell Rachel later on.

Everyone had a lot of fun that night eating and drinking and joking around. Annie and Rachel sometimes would whisper to each other and giggle, and slowly the whole team caught on. The table was silent one time they did it.

"What," Annie cracked up giving a guilty look on her face. She was whispering something to Rachel about Mac.

"Why are you girls doing that?" Jimmy asked.

Silky then proceeded to mimic Annie by whispering into Verchota's ear. Verchota impersonated Rachel and gave a very girly and silly laugh.

"We don't sound like that!" Rachel defended with a smile. She knew they actually did.

The whole team disagreed and said something about it. It looks like the two girls lost their case.

"Whatever," Annie sighed, "I'll tell you more about that...sweater sale...a little later on. I've gotta call my folks to tell them I'm staying."

"Where are you staying?" Cox asked. Annie didn't have a dorm room anymore and the house was gone.

"Here and with Rach too probably," she replied. She then got up and called her home. The team tried to stay quiet so she could hear her parents on the phone.

"Hey mom...yeah, no I'm not leaving...okay love ya too, Ma (sarcastically)...Oh really? Tell them I say hi!...Yeah, I'm with OC now...Your parents say hi, OC!...Yeah...Can I talk to Charlie?...Why not?...Yeah, okay (skeptically)...She isn't?...Mom, that's not a good thing... Are you serious?I've gotta study, I'm getting a part for my car! Oh please! That's kid code for meet me in the previously agreed upon location far away from the clueless parents!...MOM, you're such a dumbass! You gave him a candle?!...You might as well have given him a box of condoms and a key to a hotel room, they're gonna have sex!...Mom, trust me I know kid code... Yep! Remember in high school how I'd always go out to study with Debbie and Valerie? I never knew anybody named Debbie or Valerie!...Yeah...Oh uh did I cause a riot in the house?..."

Annie then hung up the phone, "She hung up on me!"

"What the hell was that?" OC asked.

"Yeah so our brother and sister are totally having sex!" Annie sounded a little weirded out.

"WHAT!?" OC nearly screamed.

"Yeah, well our families were together to celebrate Katherine and Charlie's four month anniversary and they both left under mysterious circumstances. I'm not even sure if they are. I just caused all that mayhem to get my mother off the phone!" she giggled.

"You're so evil!" Mac laughed.

"I know," she gave him a devilish smile.

He gave her a light kiss on the forehead and put his arm around her shoulders. Annie then rested her head on him. Sorry Rachel, but she was definitely spending most of nights with Robbie McClanahan.

**Beep, Beep, Beep**

The alarm went of at seven AM. Both Robbie and Annie woke up. Mac looked at the clock and groaned, it was time to get up. Annie sighed and turned over to her other side, trying to fall asleep again. It had been a week and a half since Annie began living with Mac in his apartment and she has been woken up everyday to that alarm.

Robbie let out a huge yawn before getting out of bed and trying his best to be as quiet as he could while he got dressed. After he got dressed and packed his bag Robbie left his room and met his two roommates, who were waiting to leave with him in the living room.

The three tired hockey players dragged themselves out of their apartment for another long day of practice. They went to the main entrance and saw through the glass door that the ground was covered with snow. It wasn't just a little either. It looked to be at least a foot.

"Perfect," Bah groaned. It was gonna be a bitch to drive today.

Mark then tried pushing the door open but it was stuck. Snow was blocking the door and it couldn't move. Mac and Bah tried getting it too but no luck.

"What are we going to do?" Mac asked.

"We can keep trying," Bah suggested.

"No use," the three hockey players heard someone enter their conversation. It was their neighbor, Stephanie who was with her husband Bobby, who both came from trying to get out through the back door.

"I tried that thing for almost an hour and it didn't even budge," their neighbor told them, "And I tried the back too."

"And I just checked the news and all the main roads are closed," Stephanie said.

"Thanks guys," Mark told the two.

"What now?" Bah asked his two friends.

"We can try the patio.." Mac suggested.

The three went back to their first floor apartment, fully prepared to get out of the building by jumping from their patio. It was only six feet off the ground.

When entering they saw Annie standing in the kitchen just hanging up the phone.

"There you are! That was Craig, practice is canceled today," she informed them.

"Are you serious?" Bah was shocked.

"Yeah," she nodded her head, "He said something about a snow storm. Is it really that bad?"

Mac then walked over to the patio door and moved the curtains, revealing all the snow on the ground.

"Wow!" she gasped. She's seen worse living through the Blizzard of '78, but one foot was a lot for a one day period.

Mark then sat down on the couch and turned on the news, "Steph was right. Everything is closed!"

The three others who were standing turned and looked at the tv. School closings were crawling at the bottom of the screen and the weatherman was announcing the major road closings. It was a state of emergency.

"We couldn't get out through the front or back door," Mac explained to his girlfriend, "We were gonna jump from the patio."

"Ohh," Annie nodded, "Luckily Craig called you guys right now, five minutes later and you would've already gone and been stuck in that snow for hours!"

Bah, Mac, and Conway then sat down on the couch with Mark and watched tv. It was pretty early so all that was on was the news and children's cartoons. They kept scrolling just in case something popped up.

"SCOOBY DOO!" Mac yelled. Mark immediately stopped channel surfing and everyone looked at Mac.

"What? I like Scooby Doo," Mac jokingly defended.

Everyone still looked at him silently, giving him funny looks. They decided to keep it on that channel because if not it would've been more news.

"I'm gonna make breakfast. You guys want anything?" Annie got up.

All three of the guys raised their hands. They usually didn't eat before breakfast, except for maybe an apple or banana on the go.

"I'll make some pancakes," she said as she walked towards the kitchen.

The three guys stayed sitting watching the program and Annie watched as she mixed the batter in the kitchen. After the program the three guys got up and sat down at the kitchen table to keep the guys company.

"Have you guys ever noticed that they always use a 'Mr. Jenkins' character but you never hear that name in the real world?" Bah asked everyone.

"What about the fact that it's never a ghost and always some crazy old guy in a costume?" Annie added.

"Or that they are always able to solve the crime in twenty two minutes," Mark pointed out.

"Well I have nothing bad to say about that show. Scooby Doo is the best!" Mac told them.

They continued talking until Annie put the pancakes on the table. Then they ate in silence trying to finish the fastest so they could each get the most pancakes.

"I've got more pancakes you know," the red head told the three guys. There was still half a bowl of batter left.

"Ohhhh" the guys suddenly began to eat a bit slower.

After breakfast, the four decided to go outside. They didn't want to be stranded in the apartment all day. The snow was pretty deep; but they were able to get out to the parking lot, which was all plowed out.

"This is just like the lost week," Annie giggled in her boyfriend's ear.

Mac smiled and gave Annie a kiss on the lips. She gleamed up at him and they held hands.

"What should we do?" Mark asked.

"Uhmmm how about..." Bah tossed a snowball right at Mark, "Snowball fight! Conway and me against Mac and Magic!"

"Alright, let's stratagize first," Mac said as he and Mark went off to another end of the parking lot, leaving Bah and Annie.

"Ok, what's the plan?" Annie asked the hockey player.

"I don't know," Bah answered honestly.

"I think I can cover Mac," Annie told him joked, "I'll just seduce him until he cracks."

"I'll do the same for Magic," Bah joked with a serious face.

Annie cracked up, "Don't take my plan!"

"It's our plan!"

"I don't wanna be on your team anymore!" Annie whined.

Bah then threw a snowball right at Annie's face. Annie rebuffed by hitting him back.

"FREE FOR ALL!" he yelled.

Mac and Mark ran back to join them and they all threw snowballs at each other until they were soaked from head to toe. After a few hours of being outside, the group returned to their apartment. They all raced for the shower and Mark reached for it first.

While waiting Annie, Robbie, and Bah watched tv in the living room. Mac and Conway were cuddling on the couch and Bah was on the chair.

"You know Star Wars is on tv this Saturday?" Annie told them.

"Really?" Bah asked.

"I heard they're showing the trailer for the next one. It's supposed to come out this summer," Mac said.

"We should invite everyone over to come see it!" Annie suggested.

"Yeah, we're not playing that night and there's nothing else on tv," Mac agreed.

"Let's do it," Bah followed.

"Do what?" Mark just stepped out of the shower.

"I'm next," Bah got up and ran towards the shower before Annie and Mac realized what was happening.

"We're gonna invite everyone here to watch Star Wars this Saturday," Annie told him.

"Oh cool," Mark nodded.

As Mark and Mac talked a bit, Annie couldn't help but think about a week from now. The following Friday was when Herb was going to make his final cut. She came up with the idea of everyone hanging out so it can sorta be like their last big thing as a group before one of them left. She wouldn't tell anyone that, not even Mac and OC. The redhead didn't know who would be cut and didn't want to think about it, she just wanted some time with all the team before the last one was cut.

That Saturday everyone on the team came over to the apartment to watch Star Wars on tv. Most of them couldn't even fit. About ten guys sat on the floor, some got on the chairs and couch, while others just stood. But when you're in a bid group of people, it's hard to pay attention to the movie.

"Leia loves Han!" Annie told them her idea.

"No she doesn't!" OC disagreed.

"Yeah, Leia loves Luke. That's why she kissed him on that bridge," Mac backed up OC.

Annie nearly shrieked, "Uh! Just for luck!"

"What's the deal with that robot with the English accent?" Verchota asked.

"C3PO," Pav told him.

"That sounds like a chemical formula," Baker laughed.

"C3PO is sort of annoying. He doesn't really have a plot. He's sorta just there for shits and giggles," Silky said.

The first half of the movie passed and during the commercial break they showed a special viewing of the sequel, due to come out that summer. Everyone was quiet for it, at least until it showed Leia and Han making out. Then Annie made a big deal.

"I TOLD YOU GUYS!" she was very excited.

"Yeah, but she made out with Luke in the trailer too!" OC pointed out.

"Is there like a love triangle now?" Coxie asked.

"I guess so," Rizzo answered.

"Oh my God! Like General Hospital!" Annie giggled out of excitement.

A few hours later the movie ended. The guys stayed around a bit longer. The apartment was empty by about two AM. Luckily, they didn't have practice on Sunday. Mark, Bah, Mac and Annie went to their rooms.

"Tonight was fun," Annie said as she laid in bed next to Mac.

"Yeah. It was," he smiled.

"So...next week is the last cut," she said in a sad tone.  
"Yeah, I'm pretty nervous. We all are. It was really good to have everyone over here tonight," he told her.

"You have nothing to worry about," she turned over in the bed to face him , "You're a good player."

"Thanks," he sighed, "I don't even know what to think about it though. I mean we're all good players. It could be anyone who goes."

"I honestly don't think it's gonna be you, babe. I mean you're Brooks's golden boy for Christ's sake," Annie tried.

"What's the supposed to mean?" Mac gave some tone.

"I mean that he knows you can play and he thinks your a good player," his girlfriend replied.

"He doesn't want good players...he wants great players," Mac said coolly.

"Hey, I was just trying to help," she sighed, "And he doesn't want great players. He wants twenty players that play well together. That's what he told Craig and Craig told me."

"So you don't think I'm a great player?" Mac was obviously tired and really tense. Annie didn't want to deal with that.

"Why are you being a bitch? I just said you were a good player!" Annie was pretty tired too.

"Whatever. I'm going to bed. Night," he groaned.

"Night," she replied coolly back and turned her back to him.

They both fell asleep feeling sorry about the fight. They made up the next morning but Mac was still acting a bit tense at times. Finally at the end of the week, the last player was cut. It was Coxie. That hit everyone pretty hard. They all had different emotions. It was a mixture of sadness and relief that they weren't cut themselves. Now the team was down to twenty and they were scheduled to leave for New York City in a week. The Olympics were right on top of everyone now and even though their time together was almost over, they still had a long way to go before it was truly the end.

**That was it! I hope you liked it. Sorry if it was fillerish but I wanted a nice fluff chapter after all the drama! There will be a lot more drama coming up!! Until next time, XOXO**


	34. Here Come the Russians!

**Meadow567: Thanks for reviewing!**

**KOLU: Thanks for the review! Yeah, Mac was being a little blah by the end, but this chapter the tables definitely turn! I hope you enjoy!**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it. And no problem about the shout out. Your story rocks!**

**AN: Here's the next chapter. It's a definite turning point in the story. It has a lot more drama than last chapter, in fact most of it is drama. Anyways, here it is. I hope you all enjoy it and please review when your done! **

**Chapter 34**

It was a few days since Coxie was cut and they guys were planning on leaving for New York the next day. It was their final practice in Minnesota. It felt a little weird for them that it was almost over. They've been practicing and playing games together for so long and the worst was yet to come. The Olympics were a few days away and they couldn't believe it. After all their hard work they needed to at least win the bronze in Lake Placid.

"This is weird. It doesn't feel like our last practice here," Rizzo said as the team was getting dressed after practice.

"Yeah I know. It's gone by real fast," Pav agreed.

"We should commemorate this important day," OC suggested.

"We should get drunk," Verchota said.

"Exactly!" OC exclaimed, "That was exactly what I had on my mind!"

Just then Annie walked into the locker room. She had a big envelope in her hands.

"Hey guys," she greeted them.

"What's that?" Mac asked referring to the envelope.

"I don't know," Annie said honestly, "Herb gave it to me before I came in. He told me to tell you not to lose these or else you'll be kicked off the team on a count of stupidity."

"Are you serious?" Buzz asked.

"No joke," she told him.

"Open it, Conway!" Jimmy told her.

"Ok," she laughed, "Drum roll please..."

The guys all made a drum roll sound by banging their hands on their knees.

Annie began opening the envelope, "And the winner is...oh..."

Annie's smile turned from a smile to a frown.

"What is it?" Bah asked.

"Plane tickets," she said.

"So?" Mac asked, then he remembered, "Oh yeah, you're afraid of flying!"

"Shut up! It's a perfectly normal thing to be a little afraid of flying, even if you have never been on a plane!"

"You've never been on a plane!?" Rammer asked, shocked.

"How did you get to Minnesota in the first place then?" Bah questioned.

"Well, when I was younger my parents would drive. But when I came here over the summer I took a train from Boston to New York City, then a bus from New York to Chicago, then a train from Chicago to Minneapolis. If I went home for Christmas with OC I would've sold my ticket and done the same thing"

"How long did that take you?" Buzz asked.

"Like a day and a half," she responded.

"Taking a plane is a lot faster," Silky told her.

"Yeah but that would require you to be like thousands of miles in the air!"

"Conway, it'll be fine! Relax!" OC tried to reassure her.

"Whatever," she shrugged off, obviously really nervous.

"Let's see where we're sitting," Rizzo took the envelope from Annie.

Rizzo took the tickets out of the envelope and began passing them out to the respected players. Their names were all on the tickets. Annie wasn't really paying attention, she was really nervous and thought of about a billion different ways she could die on the plane, like a freak crash or a weird plague on the plane.

"Conway," she heard Rizzo say her name.

Annie then snapped out of her thoughts as Rizzo talked to her, "Here's your ticket." He handed her the ticket.

"I'm sitting in 24E," she read her ticket aloud.

"Your sitting next to us," Verchota said happily, referring to he and Silky, who was sitting next to him.

"Perfect," she shrugged as she sank down low on the bench.

--

"It'll be fine," Mac tried reassuring his girlfriend for the hundredth time. She must've been horrified of flying.

"How do you know that?" she said as she threw a shirt into her suitcase. They were now alone in the apartment packing for the trip to New York City and Lake Placid.

"Because a chance of getting in a plane crash is like one and like a million. And over the past few months I've been on planes like a ton of times and nothing bad ever happened!"

"Except for the time you hit the moose!"

"That was a freak thing! No one saw that thing coming!"

"Still..."

"Still nothing! Everything will be ok," Robbie looked Annie right in the eye and began to message her shoulders, "You'll be ok because I'll be around!"

Annie felt a little better. Robbie looked and was acting really cute right now, "You know I wanted to be a flight attendant when I was a child. And when I was ten I was about to go on a plane for the first time and I froze and couldn't get on the plane. I haven't even been close to one ever since!"

"I'm sorry. You would've been a really cute flight attendant," he winked at her.

"No. More like the cutest flight attendant!" she gave him a puppy eye look to agree with her.

"The cutest flight attendant," Robbie assured her.

They then shared a light kiss that turned pretty heavy pretty fast. The were kissing their way to the bed where all there clothes laid, waiting to be packed.

"Wait...wait.." Annie was breathing heavily "...what about the clothes?"

"What about them?" Mac was confused.

"We have our lives to pack up tonight! We're leaving tomorrow!" she reminded him.

"I know!" he told her, "I just assumed we'd come back after the Olympics and then go to Buffalo together..."

"Oh...oh yeah..."

"What?"

"Nothing," she then kissed him again and this time neither of them stopped.

--

The next day was pretty hectic. The team left Minnesota and were now on their way to New York City, where they would play their final exhibition game against the Soviet Union before going to Lake Placid.

The plane ride for Annie was not the smoothest. She knew sitting next to Silky and Verchota would be annoying but it was just getting old.

"Oh my God! What was that?" Silk whispered to Annie and Verchota when they hit turbulence.

"We're all gonna die!" Verchota pretended to be really scared.

"Shut up!" Annie exclaimed very tensely.

Both of the guys laughed, which made Annie even more annoyed.

"Why do you guys have to be so mean?"

"Because it's funny," Verchote replied.

"Your faces are just priceless," Silky laughed.

"Whatever," she groaned. She unbuckled her seatbelt, which she had in tact the whole flight, and got up, "I'm going to sit in the smoking section!"

She grabbed her purse and walked quickly to the front of the plane.

"That's the front of the plane, Annie!" Verchota yelled out to her.

"If anything happens, you'll be the first to die!" Silky yelled.

Annie flipped them off as she was walking away and both of the guys just laughed. Annie walked up to a flight attendant, who served their section and saw how annoying Verchota and Silky were being today.

"Are there possibly any seats opened in the smoking section of the plane?" she asked in a pleading way.

"Your actually just in luck. There is one seat left," the attendant smiled, "I'll take you to it."

The two walked all the way to the very front of the plane and she showed Annie her seat. It was in the center row next to the last person she would ever want to see.

"Fuck off," she reflexively said the second she saw him.

"Annie Conway! How have you been?" the guy pretended to be excited to see her.

This mysterious guy was none other than one of Annie's many flings when she was a lot younger. She met him the summer before ninth grade, when she was fourteen and he was eighteen, and they worked at a sleep away camp in New Hampshire. She was a CIT and he was a counselor. One night she was drinking a lot and ended up losing her virginity to him. Annie always regretted that night ever since, which is probably the reason she changed her attitude and became that tomboy best friend of OC to begin with.

"I'm going back to the non-smoking section," she told him, without even looking at him.

Just then the fasten your seatbelt singal went off, indicating that they would be landing shortly. Annie tried anyways to go back to her old seat but the flight attendant held her back and made her sit next to her ex-boyfriend.

"So how have you been?" he laughed, looking at how unhappy she was.

"I don't want to talk to you, Steve!" she then took a cigarette out of her purse and quickly lit it up. It was like the closest she was to calm.

"After everything happened, I still kept up to date with you. Like I got news and stuff from my cousin," Steve's cousin went to the same high school that OC and Annie went to.

"You became best friends with Jack O'Callahan huh? Well tell me Annie, is he as good as fuck as me?"

Annie shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "I've never had sex with OC! Ever since that sick little statutory rape encounter with you I've changed a lot!"

"Oh I bet," he replied back sarcastically.

Annie finished up her cigarette and saw that he was still staring at her, "What?!"

"Who's this McClanahan guy?"

Annie couldn't believe it. How would he know about that? Annie was quiet for a moment.

"You know the name on the University of Minnesota sweatshirt you're wearing," he pointed out to her.

Annie looked down and remembered she was wearing a sweatshirt he gave her, "Oh. Well, he's my boyfriend. He's on this flight right now and he'll be really mad if he sees us talking."

She knew that that was a bit of a stretch. Robbie was never the jealous/angry guy. At least she never saw if he had that side to him.

"Really?" he laughed and looked around, "Where is he?"

"In the non-smoking section," she told him.

"Oh, lover's quarrel?" he joked, referring to why she left that section in the first place.

"No! I'm a nervous flyer and needed a cigarette to calm down. Who knew that going up to the smoking section would make me more stressed!"

"Is he a pretty boy?" Steve asked in a serious tone, "I know how much you dig those pretty boys...Me, Ryan O'Neil..."

"Well, I think he's good looking. But trust me, I've changed. I'm not exactly into the same stuff I was way back when," she tried.

"No Annie, you haven't changed a bit. You think you have but you have no idea. You still stress smoke, and have red hair and like pretty boys and I bet you still have that same green army-like bag that you packed all your clothes in. You haven't changed at all," he told her in somewhat of a mean tone.

She did still have that bag! And she did pack all her belongings into it. Maybe he was right, maybe she didn't change at all. Maybe she just acted different because she was so ashamed of what happened all those years ago with him. She hated herself back then and she respected herself a lot more now, but maybe she hadn't even changed at all.

Annie was lost in her thoughts until Steve shook her, "The plane landed."

He got up and grabbed his suitcase from the overhead compartment. Annie remained sitting. He then walked over to her. He took his wallet out and grabbed an old picture from the back. It was the two of them during that summer. Annie looked at herself. She looked almost exactly the same but a few years older. She was sitting on his lap with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in another.

"Somethings never change. I'll see you around, Conway," he told her.

Annie kept examining the picture and then flipped it over. It had something written on the back: Don't Ever Forget- Summer of '71

Annie looked up again but by this time Steve was gone. Not a few moments later did she hear her name being called. She looked behind her and now the team was unboarding. She gave a half smile and stood up.

"No need for you to sit any longer, Conway, the plane already landed," her best friend joked.

Annie gave a small laugh, "Actually I was waiting for you guys!"

Annie didn't even look for Mac and boarded off the plane with OC. She was standing pretty close to him, as if she needed to reassure her friendship with him. What Steve said really got to her.

The team all walked straight to the baggage claim, where OC began talking to Rizzo and Jimmy and Mac finally caught up to Annie.

"Hey. How was your flight?" he greeted, knowing perfectly well that it wasn't very good. Her complaining rants were sometimes pretty funny and she probably really needed to vent.

"Awful," she said coolly, "How was yours?"

"It was good. Jannie, Morrow and I played a pretty sick version of hangman," he laughed thinking back to it, "And Herb was right next to us and kept giving us looks."

"I bet," she unemotionally responded.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I'm fine. I'm just still a little freaked out about the plane thats all!"

"But it's so great you faced your fear," he assured her, "Now all you've gotta do is go to a mall all by yourself!"

Another one of her biggest fears: getting abducted from the mall.

"I'm never doing that! The next time people would see me would be dead in a ditch somewhere!"

"That won't happen! Trust me!" he laughed, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, hoping for a kiss.

Just then the bags started coming around.

Mac reached in for a kiss, but Annie stopped him by putting her two fingers in front of his lips, "The bags are here. We should look for ours."

Annie then moved away from a very confused Mac. 'What did I do?' he kept thinking to himself. Annie avoided Mac for the rest of the night, by hanging out with OC or Rizzo or just anybody but him.

--

The next few days were a little shaky for Robbie and Annie. They didn't spend much time together and didn't talk either. Annie didn't know why she was doing this. She just couldn't stop thinking about her talk with Steve. She didn't want her relationship with Robbie to end like it ended with Steve, which was very badly. She would eventually explain everything to Mac, who seemed pretty sick of her behavior at this point, but for now she needed to be a little distant from him. But for now, the team had a game to play against one of their biggest rivals.

It was finally here. The final game for the team before Lake Placid. The opponents were none other than the Russians, the best team in the world. The game wasn't pretty. The guys weren't playing their A game at all, nor their B or even C game to be perfectly honest. It wasn't that they weren't good, it was because they were scared. And they had every right to be afraid. The Russians were the best team in the world and they played better than what they had seen on their practice footage. Annie and the rest of the guys weren't sure why Herb would have them play such an intense game right before the Olympics, especially with a good chance, because of the intensity of the game, that someone might get hurt. And someone did. Jack O'Callahan got hurt.

Annie couldn't be with him right when it happened. Doc told her to stay out and watch the rest of the game in case someone else got hurt. She wasn't watching the game anyways. She was too busy worrying about her best friend, that and the fact that she didn't want to see her friends get the shit kicked out of them.

As soon as the final buzzer went off, Annie bolted to the locker room. She ran into Doc, who just left after examining Jack.

"How is he?" Annie sounded as frazzled as she looked.

"I'm not sure. I'm gonna need to go to the hospital with him to get some X-rays," Doc told her, "Do you know where Herb is?"

"He got sidelined by reporters," Annie explained, "Doc,will... will he be able to play?"

"I don't know yet. I'm sorry," Doc then walked away. He felt bad he didn't know more to tell her.

Annie then saw him walk down the hall and turned right into the locker room. She couldn't believe what she saw. Her best friend, the strongest guy she knew, looking so helpless on the table. His uniform was off and he was just sitting their, with his leg propped up and a bandage on his knee. He was actually crying a bit. The site of him made her almost as devastated as he felt.

"Hey," she greeted him softly. She felt a tear coming down her cheek too. She was so upset for him. She wanted this so much for her best friend. And now a stupid injury might stop him from his Olympic dream. Life sometimes was just so unfair.

"Hi," he said unemotionally back. Even though she was his best friend, he didn't want her to see him cry, just like she didn't like him seeing her cry.

"Did Doc tell you anything?" she asked, walking closer to him.

"No...I think I have to go to the hospital to get some X-rays though," he told her.

"Yeah..." she nodded, "He didn't tell me much either."

Annie then sat on the chair next to his table. The two sat in silence wrapped up in their own thoughts. They didn't say much to each other, but OC knowing that Annie was there made him feel a bit better. That's what best friends were for.

Herb came in a few minutes later, but didn't say much to OC. He just gave him a pat on the shoulder and left. Annie stayed with OC until Doc came to take him to the hospital.

"I wanna come with you two," she told Doc.

"I'm sorry. I need to go with him. I need you to stay with the team," Doc told her.

"Why?" Annie got upset.

"Because they're leaving tomorrow and I need you there. I'd let you go but I'm gonna drive OC up to Lake Placid in a rental and I know how to get their because I've done this drive before. You haven't. And the team needs you..."

"Yeah, well so does my best friend!" she fought.

"I'm sorry Annie, I can't let you go," Doc told her. It looked like he meant it.

She gave a deep sigh and looked at OC. He watched this all unfold.

"I'll be ok, Annie, I promise. I'll see you in Lake Placid," he told her.

He never called her Annie. Not even when he was mad at her. He must've been really scared that he was going home. She walked over to the table that he sat in and gave him a big hug.

"You're leg will be fine," she gave a half smile. It was pretty fake but she tried.

"I hope," he gave a really fake half smile back.

Annie didn't know what to do. She took another deep breath to think of something that would make him feel better. But no action or words would do that for him right now so she left. She walked quickly out of the locker room, where not too many of the team remained. She saw Mac in the corner of her eye but walked right through, pretending not to see him.

Annie was about halfway to the stairs at the end of the hall when she heard Mac call out for her. He knew she was upset and needed him.

"Annie!" he yelled.

Annie then turned around and saw her boyfriend walk over to her. He was all showered and ready to leave with his bag in hand.

"Hi," he said once he stood right in front of her.

"Hi," she replied back, visibly upset.

"Let's grab a cab," he wanted to get her out of there fast. She needed to go back to the hotel and rest before the long trip to Lake Placid the next day.

Robbie put his arm around her shoulders and led her out of the arena. She rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. They then grabbed a cab and got to their hotel. The car ride was silent, but Annie still rested her head against Robbie's shoulder as he had his arm around her.

Once they got to the hotel, Annie began talking. She realized that that was the closest they've ever been since their flight out of Minnesota. That Steve thing really freaked her out.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" she asked him, she looked really sad.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Of course I will."

He kissed her forehead and the two walked over to the elevators to go up to Annie's room. She didn't want to do anything and he knew it. But she needed rest and he knew that she needed him to be with her. That night she didn't stay up late, in fact she fell asleep before her head hit the pillow. After all the stress from this week dealing with her ex and tonight's long cry she was exhausted and just needed some sleep. Close to the end, oh please, this whole thing was just beginning.

**So, that was it! Please review! I hope you all liked it!**


	35. Welcome to Lake Placid

**Meadow567: Lol, I'm glad you liked the chapter title. It was originally going to be "The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!" but that was way too long. Thanks for the review!**

**KOLU: Yeah, people did that a lot in the seventies, like now. I got the idea from a picture I saw of my mom when she was like eighteen or nineteen. Well, only the cigarette and beer, not the guy or anything lol. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for reviewing! There will be a lot more Mac/Annie and some OC/Annie scenes in this chapter. I hope you like it. And I think she'll really wanna get rid of that army bag and all the baggage with it lol.**

**Iheartobama: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like my story so far! Annie redeems herself a bit in this chapter. I agree, she was a little over the top mean to Mac, when it wasn't his fault. But don't worry they'll be okay...for now!**

**AN: Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing! I'm happy you all liked it! And this chapter has a scene similar to my favorite scene in one of my favorite movies "Almost Famous". Trust me whoever has seen the movie will know what I'm talking about. The difference is a song change. Anyways heres the next chapter. I hope you all like it. Please review when your done!**

**Chapter 35**

Annie fluttered open her eyes and saw all black. Scared, Annie shot up and rubbed her hands against her eyes. Her eyes then adjusted to the dark and she immediately recognized where she was, her hotel room. Annie sighed in relief and looked around the room. She looked at the clock and saw that it was only 4 AM.

The red head then laid down and saw Robbie sleeping about three inches away from her. Annie was confused at first then the memory of last night's Madison Square Garden game came rushing into her head. OC was hurt, Jimmy was no longer goalie; the team was in real trouble. But Mac didn't go off and be with the team, instead he stayed with her, which was incredibly sweet considering she was a bitch to him and she knew it. Annie was really upset about OC and Robbie was there to bring her to the hotel and make sure she was ok.

Annie had been cold to Robbie for the couple days leading up to the game. She ran into an old fling of hers and he was quite cruel to her. He told her she didn't change and she was always the same girl. That killed Annie because ever since she lost to her virginity to him she vowed to change and thought she had until she ran into him again. It seemed sort of stupid now but Annie felt she was ignoring her boyfriend to prove to herself that she had changed. Annie was mentally kicking herself for that bad move.

'He must really love me to put up with all of that,' Annie thought to herself as she stared at him and carefully studied his features as he slept.

In a quick decision Annie began to shake him awake. She loved him and wanted to tell him and thank him for staying with her.

"Robbie," she whispered as she gently shook him, "Robbie, wake up."

Robbie yawned as his eyes opened. He looked at her with a very bewildered expression on his face, "Annie, what's going on? What time is..."

Annie cut him off mid sentence and planted him with a big kiss. He kissed back and they kept kissing until she laid on top of him, "You know I love you right?"

"Yeah," he said softly, "What's going on?"

"I love you so much," she kissed him again, "I'm so sorry about the way I've been acting."

"It's okay," he told her. He was really pissed but didn't want to have a discussion about it, he was still half asleep, "Can we talk about it later? I'm really tired."

"Yeah," Annie nodded her head. His voice was cool, so she sensed that he was mad that she woke him up, "Sorry I woke ya"

Annie turned her body to face the opposite way and laid back down to try to get back to sleep. She felt his arm go around her waist.

He planted a light kiss on her cheek and whispered into her ear, "I love you too."

Within minutes the couple was asleep in each other's arms.

A few hours later Mac woke up again. This time it was light out. He looked at the clock, which read quarter to ten. Since the team was meeting at eleven to get on the bus and drive up the Lake Placid, Mac decided to get up because he feared if he went back to bed he would oversleep and miss the bus.

Mac got out of bed and took a quick shower. After his shower, he got dressed and wanted to brush his teeth before he woke Annie up for the bus drive. He got his toothbrush from his bag and looked for the toothpaste, there wasn't any. He must've forgotten. The hockey player then looked in the bathroom but there was none to be found. Robbie thought for a moment then decided to look in his girlfriend's bag. She must've packed it.

He walked over to her green army-like bag and opened it. It had a mix of some clothes, books, and magazines. It was a pretty small bag, so she had another suitcase. But Robbie even remembered seeing her pack the toothpaste in the small carry on. Mac shuffled around in the bag and a few things ended up falling out. An old tee shirt, a copy of _The_ _Catcher In the Rye_, and an old Polaroid. The picture fell face up so Mac only saw the back which had something written on it.

"Don't Ever Forget- Summer of '71" Mac read.

Curiosity quickly took over and in a flash Robbie turned over the picture. He couldn't believe it. It was a picture of Annie. She looked a little younger, maybe only thirteen or fourteen at the time that the photograph was taken. The younger version of his girlfriend was sitting on a much older guy's lap and was smoking a cigarette as she held a beer bottle in her other hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" Robbie heard his girlfriend's voice. She must've just woken up.

Mac turned around and saw a groggy and pissed looking Annie. Maybe he should have asked before going into her bag for some toothpaste. He didn't think he would find anything like this.

"Why are you going through my bag, Robbie?" she interrogated.

"I was trying to find some..." then he realized that she was the one who had the explaining to do after seeing that photograph, "What's with the picture?"

He held up the Polaroid so Annie could see it. Annie gasped when she saw it, clearly she didn't want Robbie or anyone else to see it.

"Well, what are you doing looking through my stuff?" Annie tried to shift the blame on him.

"I looked for some toothpaste in your bag and the picture fell out," he explained without any emotion, "Again, what's with the picture?"

"Nothing," she looked away from him, "That was from a very long time ago."

"Then why do you still have it?" Mac was getting a little annoyed that she wouldn't talk to him.

"Because on the plane I sat next to the guy whose lap I was sitting on in that picture. He had it in his wallet," she said quietly.

"Who is that guy?" Robbie asked.

"Everyone has a bad past...and well he's mine. I really don't want to talk about it. I've never talked about it with anyone, not even OC," Annie explained.

"I'm not OC. I'm your boyfriend," he tried then sat next to her on the bed, "Come on, Annie, you know you can tell me anything."

"I know," she sighed, "And I meant everything I said earlier this morning. But I can't tell you this. I've changed so much since then and I've changed a lot since I met you. I don't want my bad past to fuck up my present. The past is in the past for a reason."

Mac nodded, "Well you know, it seems like it hurt you a lot. And I don't think anyone really gets over something unless they confide in someone else..."

"I'm sorry, Mac. I can't do that," she said slowly, as if she was talking to a child.

**RING**

The telephone rang right in the middle of their conversation, which was becoming very tense. Right before Mac could say anything else to try to convince her to tell him about the picture, Annie reached over him for the telephone, which was on the side table.

"Hello"

"Hey, Annie," the red head heard one of her good friends on the other end.

"Rach! Hey, how are you?" Annie was happy to hear from her. She hadn't seen her since a week before they all left for New York City. Luckily Annie would see Rachel again at the games.

"I'm alright. I'm at the hospital with Jack..."

"What?" Annie couldn't believe it. OC didn't want Annie there at all, why would he ask Rachel to come?

"Yeah, last night I was here in the city seeing my parent's and I saw clips from the game on the news. Then Jack called me and asked me to come down here while he got his X-Rays," she explained.

"Why would he want you?" Annie was a little hurt. She couldn't believe her best friend told her not to come, even though he knew she was worried, and then asked his girlfriend instead. Annie felt like she was being replaced in every way possible.

"What?" Rachel was confused.

"How is he?" Annie changed the subject. The last thing she said was a little hurtful.

"I don't know," Rachel said, "All I know is that it's not a tear, but he still has to use crutches. I'm not sure if he'll be able to play though."

Annie's heart skipped a beat. She didn't want to believe that OC wouldn't be playing. The whole team would crumble if he wasn't there. He was a huge part of this team, everyone was. If one person was out the team would fall apart.

"Annie?" OC's girlfriend interrupted the red head's train of thought.

"Yes," Annie replied, showing she had all her attention on Rachel.

"I'm gonna go see Jack. I'm driving up with Doc and OC so I'll see you in a few hours," Rachel told her.

"Ok. See you then. Bye," Annie hung up the phone before Rachel could say her usual enthusiastic bye.

Annie took a deep breath.

"How is he?"

Annie turned and saw Robbie still sitting there. She forgot he was even in the room. Annie looked down, she was pretty upset.

"It's not a tear, but he's on crutches. Rachel doesn't know if he'll be able to play though," Annie didn't even look at her boyfriend.

"I'm sorry," Mac tried to be supportive.

"I know," Annie ignored his sympathies, got up and made a B-line towards the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

--

The first half of the bus ride going up was pretty quiet. A lot of guys were still both physically and emotionally drained from the last game. They didn't know OC's condition, Annie didn't want to believe it herself. She knew, but she didn't have the heart to tell them. He would tell them all when they got up there anyways.

It was still several hours before they would arrive at Lake Placid. The guys really didn't know what to say. They didn't want to talk about last night's game at all. The only sounds in the bus were coming from the radio. The song currently playing: Hey Jude by The Beatles.

_Hey Jude, don't make it bad.  
Take a sad song and make it better.  
Remember to let her into your heart,  
Then you can start to make it better. _

The radio was really loud and the whole bus could hear it clearly. The guys seemed to be listening really intently on the lyrics, they had nothing else to do since no one was talking.

_Hey Jude, don't be afraid.  
You were made to go out and get her.  
The minute you let her under your skin,  
Then you begin to make it better. _

"And anytime you feel the pain, Hey Jude, refrain. Don't carry the world upon your shoulders," Rizzo sang along with the song.

Some of the guys gave him confused looks, but some of them, like Bah, were totally into it.

"For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool. By making his world a little colder," Bah sang along.

"Hey Jude, don't let me down. You have found her, now go and get her," Pav and Verchota followed.

The guys were all laughing. None of them were very good singers but it got their minds off the upcoming games and it broke the silence.

"Remember to let her into your heart. Then you can start to make it better," a few of the guys followed along.

Then more and more guys joined along. The only ones not singing at that point were Craig, Herb, and Annie. Mac looked at her trying to get her to sing, but she didn't want to embarrass herself. She then realized that they were all making idiots of themselves and were having a blast.

"Remember to let her under your skin. Then you'll begin to make it netter better better better better better, oh," Annie laughed as she sang along, sounding like an idiot.

"Na na na na na ,na na na, Hey Jude!" the entire team sang as loudly as they could. This went on for another four or five minutes until the song ended. 

Everyone was put at ease then. It seemed sort of weird and maybe a little immature but none of them really cared. They all had a blast. A few of them even saw Herb chuckle a bit at the sight of it. They all sang passionately and they all knew they sucked. Who knew a simple Beatles song could bring the team back together? The rest of the bus drive was filled with talking.

--

Driving up to the Olympic Welcome Center everything felt so unreal. The Olympics were finally beginning. They needed to show everyone all the hard work they've done over the past seven months. When the bus stopped the team filled off the bus. Walking into the Olympic Center, Annie could see Herb and Craig talking to OC, Doc, and Walter Bush. The guys stood around them, wanting to hear what was going on. Annie didn't go over to them though, she saw a familiar blonde and walked right over to her.

"Hey Rach," Annie smiled at her friend.

"Hey," she looked a little tired. She stayed up most of the night at the hospital waiting for OC's x-rays to come back.

The two exchanged a quick hug.

"Look, I'm sorry about before...on the phone. I was being really bitchy," Annie apologized.

"Yeah. It's fine. To be perfectly honest I'm pretty tired so I wasn't really listening to anything you said," Rachel gave a light laugh.

"Good," Annie was relieved. She was really pissed that morning when she was fighting with her boyfriend and to find out that OC didn't want her, but his girlfriend instead.

"Whatever," Rachel sighed, "I'm exhausted. I think I'm gonna go to the hotel and take a nap. You gonna go talk to the guys?"

Annie looked over towards them and saw all the guys surrounding OC, listening to everything he had to say. She didn't want to be in the middle of that and she didn't want to see him anyways.

"Actually. I think I'll check in with you. I'm gonna a key too since we're sharing a room together and all," Annie said.

"Good idea," Rachel nodded, "I don't want you to walk me up in the middle of my nap anyways. Besides that I think you need to lead me to the hotel because I'm about to fall asleep right now."

Annie laughed, "Yeah, let's go walk to the hotel."

Annie linked her arm with Rachel's arm and began to lead her out of the Welcome Center. On the way out they walked right into a guy. A really cute guy, who looked like an athlete.

"Oh, I'm really sorry," the cute guy apologized. He had a foreign accent and spoke in broken English.

"That's okay," both girls looked at him with awe.

"Do you know where the check in is?" he questioned.

"Over there," Annie and Rachel both simultaneously pointed.

"Thank you"

The cute foreign athlete walked away and both of the girls turned their heads to watch him go. They then linked arms again and walked out of the building.

"God he was so cute," Rachel smiled.

"I know. Too bad we still can't do that bet of ours we made like six months ago," Annie laughed remembering a bet they had about how many guys from different countries they could hook up with during the Olympics. It was all a joke of course, but still fun to talk about.

"Oh I know! Boyfriends suck at times," Rachel laughed.

"Yeah, I hear ya," Annie said half seriously, "Robbie and I got into a fight this morning."

"Is everything okay?" Rachel asked concerned. She yawned out of exhaustiveness but tried to hide it.

Annie sighed, "For now. But whatever. Let's take a nap. I'm tired from the ride up."

The two walked to the hotel, checked in, and finally got the rest they were waiting for.

--

**KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK**

Annie woke up in her hotel room in Lake Placid. She had checked in with Rachel and they both took naps for a few hours. The red head looked over at the other bed to see if Rachel was awake, but the bed was empty. She must've already left.

**KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK**

Annie heard the door knock again. She yawned and stretched her arms and shoulders back.

"I'm coming," she yelled at the person who knocked at the door.

She rubbed her eyes as she opened the door. It was OC.

"Hey," he said the minute she opened the door.

Annie looked at him up and down. He looked a bit ridiculous. He was wearing a cowboy outfit complete with a cowboy hat and matching gloves. What also struck her eyes were the crutches.

"Hey," she was stunned by his appearance.

"Wanna walk with me to the opening ceremonies?" he asked, "Rachel left with some of the guys already and..."

Annie cut him off, "Glad to know I wasn't your first choice."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" OC was confused, especially by the cool tone she used.

"Oh I think you know," Annie then tried to close the door on him but he stopped it with one of his crutches.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Conway."

"Whatever," Annie shrugged as she walked away from the door, "I can't leave right now anyways. I've got to take a shower and get dressed and everything. How can you walk to the ceremonies anyways? You're on crutches for god sakes!"

"Doc and Herb said it was fine for me to walk with you. And that's okay. There's plenty of time. I can wait. Besides, I wanna know what your problem is," OC told his best friend.

"Come on, OC. I know you called Rachel to come to the hospital with you yesterday. Why did you want her over me?" Annie asked. She knew she sounded like a five year old whining but she didn't care.

"It's not that I didn't want you there. I just didn't want you to be all worried about me every second. You looked exhausted anyways so I thought you should crash. I called Rach because she was a good distraction at the hospital. We just talked and stuff and I even forgot I was there. If you were there your nervousness would've made me nervous," he explained.

"Well excuse me for caring about you! You're my best friend, OC, of course I was going to be worried. I'm sorry that I'm not Rachel, the girl who can tell knock-knock jokes during a funeral!" Annie almost yelled.

"See that was the type of nervous energy shit I didn't want to have when I was waiting in the ER!" OC rebuffed with the same loud voice.

"You know what, I don't care! Go replace me with Rachel. I just won't care anymore!" Annie told him.

OC finally understood. Annie thought that he was replacing her with Rachel. That wasn't true at all. Sure Rachel was his girlfriend, and maybe more in the future, but Annie was his best friend and no one could replace her in that category.

"You think that I'm replacing you with Rach? Why would you think that?" OC asked.

"Because you asked her to the hospital over me!"

"That's because your my best friend and you would've worried about me like my mom. Rach is different. She's my girlfriend! And your the one to talk. You practically spend all your time with Mac now and days!"

"Why would you say that? That's not true and you know it!" Annie got mad.

"Well if you can say that I'm replacing you with Rachel, why can't I say that you're replacing me with Mac?"

OC had a point there. A very true point. Annie never thought that she was neglecting OC for Mac, but maybe she was. Maybe OC has been feeling the same way Annie felt when she found out Rachel went to the hospital over her.

"This is really stupid," Annie said in a soft voice, "All this fighting. It's not going to solve anything and we'll both say things we'll regret."

OC nodded, "You're right."

"I'm sorry for saying those things. And I'm sorry if you think I'm replacing you with Mac."

"I'm really sorry too."

"And if you want to do anything with Rach over me be my guest. She is your girlfriend after all," Annie felt like she was passing the torch to his blonde girlfriend.

"Conway, Rach maybe my girlfriend. But you're my best friend and she won't ever replace you in that," OC smiled at her, trying to make her feel better.

"Thank you," Annie smiled back.

By this point the two best friends were sitting down on Annie's bed. They were about three inches away from each other. In a snap the strangest thing in the world happened. They suddenly started moving their heads closer to each other until BAM lip lock. They started to kiss!

It lasted approximately two seconds until, "Woahhhh!"

Annie was the one to stop it, "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know," OC couldn't look at her, "That was really weird."

"I know," Annie grimaced. She never thought of him as more than a friend and maybe even a brother, never ever a lover.

"Was that supposed to happen?" OC asked.

"Come on now. It was bound to happen eventually in this story. I mean it's such a perfect time in the plot too. I mean with me and Mac fighting lately and with your leg injury..."

"And talk about timing," OC joked, "At the beginning of the end of the story."

Annie laughed. Only they could turn that wicked awkward situation into a joke.

"So did you feel anything?" Annie wanted a truthful answer. And she got it.

"Honestly, no. What about you?"

"Yeah, I got nada," she told him honestly, "I wonder why this would occur."

"Well theres the fact that we are both ridiculously good looking," he joked.

"Yeah you've got that right," Annie laughed, "I mean if we didn't know each other at all before this then people might actually have wanted us together."

OC laughed with Annie but Annie laughed really loud.

"Oh god," Annie was cracking up, "I felt like I was kissing my brother."

OC laughed with her, "Yeah, I thought I was kissing my sister."

"Wow," Annie giggled, "We can't tell anybody about this."

"I'll take it to the grave if you do," OC proposed.

"Deal," Annie took out her pinky finger.

OC rolled his eyes and shook her pinky with his.

"I gotta go take a shower. So I'll meet you down in the lobby," Annie told OC.

"Alright, see ya later," OC got up and grabbed his crutches.

Annie waited until he left the room and closed the door. She then laughed to herself, "God that was so fucked up. How many more crazy twists will be in this story?"

**That's all for now folks. I hope you all liked it. My next chapter will be a good one: Sweden! Yeah, it's gonna be good Mac/Annie drama. Anyways, please review. I hope you liked this!**


	36. Under My Thumb

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: I'm glad you liked the Mac/Annie stuff. They have a lot in this chapter, and it's drama! I'm really happy you liked the little twist too!**

**Meadow567: Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked the twist, it was fun to write!**

**KOLU: I love Hey Jude! I've had that part planned forever. At first it was going to be in my last story, and then I wanted to put it in the next story I'm working on. But then I was like screw it, and I put it here. It was like the perfect place to put it! I'm glad you liked it and thanks for the review!**

**Iheartobama: Thanks for reviewing and I heart Obama too!**

**AN: I know, I know! It's been forever since an update. But I can assure you that this chapter is worth it. It's really long, running over 10 pages on Open Office. I'm so sorry it's been so long since the last update and I really hope this makes up for it. I hope you enjoy and please review when you're done! Oh the name of the chapter comes from the Rolling Stones song. It's a really great song!  
**

**Chapter 36**

**February 12, 1980**

Annie tapped her fingers on the table as she tried to read today's _New York Times_. She was sitting in a coffee shop in the small village of Lake Placid, waiting for her boyfriend. She wasn't really reading the paper too intently though. The girl could just not pay attention. All she really read was the headline which informed her that yesterday marked the 100th day of the Iranian Hostage Crisis. She felt bad for all those men and women hostages, she really did, but she couldn't think about that today. Today was the team's first game. It was against Sweden.

Annie looked up at the clock and saw that Mac was five minutes late. It didn't surprise her too much. Robbie wasn't always Mr. Punctual and he probably caught up with a few of the guys before going to meet her. She took a deep breath and sighed. Then she reflexively started grinding her teeth. She did that a lot when she was really bored or nervous, or both. She always told herself to stop or it's gonna cause serious damage. Serious damage that cost money and forced you to go to the dentist. Her two least favorite things: visits with the dentists and spending money. She honestly was afraid of the dentist.

'What am I doing?' Annie thought to herself. How did she get from the Iranian Hostage Crisis to her fear of the dentist in such a short amount of time.

She would never think about how her mind arrived at that thought because she was interrupted, by three guys. They were all pretty tall. One of them was really cute, the other two not so much.

"Hi," the cute one greeted her with confidence.

"Hi," Annie nodded at them, not really interested.

"I'm Robbie McClanahan. And they are Mike Eruzione and Mark Johnson. We're on the US hockey team," he explained.

Annie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She wanted to crack up immediately but then decided to play along. She wanted to see how far they'd go in this little story, "Really? Oh my Gosh! I love hockey players. They're so cute!"

"Thank you," the guy claiming to be Rizzo said.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" 'Mark Johnson' asked.

"I'm waiting for my boyfriend, actually. He's supposed to meet me here for breakfast," she informed them.

"Where is he?" the fake Robbie asked.

Annie heard the bell from the door, indicating that someone had just entered. It was Robbie. He looked around for a second and found Annie being surrounded by a group of random guys. Annie saw him and nodded at him to come over. She was laughing a bit.

"Here he is," she was about to burst out in laughter. She couldn't wait to see this.

Robbie walked over to the table and gave Annie a kiss on the lips, as if he was claiming his territory to the guys.

"Mac, I want to introduce you to these three fine gentlemen. This is Mark Johnson, Mike Eruzione, and Robbie McClanahan," she said with the straightest face possible, "Guys, this is my boyfriend, Robbie McClanahan."

Mac laughed, understanding now why she was laughing so much when he first came in. Annie cracked up the second she saw the look on the three guys' faces. They were so embarrassed it was priceless.

"You tricked us! You knew all along!" the guy pretending to be her boyfriend exclaimed.

"Me? You were the ones who tried to trick me in the first place! Maybe next time you should use your own names to pick up girls, not pretending to be athletes. You may just be talking to someone who knows them!" Annie laughed as she pretended to scold them.

The three guys were embarrassed and walked away as Mac and Annie laughed at them. Mac sat down and Annie dropped the newspapers onto the table.

"Sorry I'm late," Robbie apologized, "I was at the rink with some of the guys...He's letting OC stay."

"He is?" Annie gleamed, "This is so great! It would've been way too late to bring anyone else in anyways."

The couple ordered some food and coffee for the table and talked a bit about the next few weeks.

"So you're leaving tomorrow for Buffalo?" Mac asked.

"Yeah," Annie nodded. She was only going for the day so she could interview for the Med School there.

"That's a long drive," Mac said.

"I know," his girlfriend agreed, "I'm gonna spend the night there and then drive back the next morning. I should be back by the next game."

"That's good because it's Valentine's Day and..."

"My birthday!" Annie exclaimed with a big smile. She was really excited. She was going to be twenty three, "Do you have my present yet?"

"I have your birthday present. I'm gonna get your Valentine's Day present when your away tomorrow," he told her.

"You're buying me two gifts? Robbie, you really don't..."

"A deal's a deal. Remember?" Mac hinted at a silly little thing they talked about during The Lost Week. He promised to buy her the two best gifts ever, and in his opinion they were.

"You're sweet," Annie smiled.

"I try," Mac replied giving a really cute face.

At that moment a waitress walked over to the table and gave Annie a coffee. Both Robbie and Annie were confused because neither of them ordered this.

"I didn't ask for this..." Annie tried.

"I know," the waitress told her, "It's from the guys over there..."

The waitress pointed to a table at the other end of the coffee shop and the couple looked over to see who it was. It was none other than the three guys from earlier, who pretended to be the guys from the team. The cute guy who pretended the be Robbie, smiled and nodded at her. Annie responded by holding up her drink and nodding back. She then took a sip.

Annie turned to look at Robbie, who didn't look very happy. Annie quickly stopped sipping.

"What the hell was that?" he was a little annoyed by how she handled that without a care in the world. She openly accepted a guy flirting with her right in front of him.

"What?" Annie was a little confused, "Come on, Mac! You know I never turn down a free drink."

Annie started to laugh but Robbie just shrugged, "Whatever I have to go to the bathroom."

Robbie got up to go the bathroom. He would be cooled off when he came back. He didn't want a fight with Annie or any stress before the game this afternoon. Unfortunately for him that was just not going to happen. When he got out of the bathroom he saw the guy who pretended to be him sitting in his seat and Annie laughing at something he just said. Robbie angrily walked to the table.

"Nah, he wouldn't fight you. He's a big softie..." Robbie heard Annie laugh when he arrived at the table.

Robbie at that point just wanted to get out of there. He took out his wallet and threw a twenty on the table.

"Annie, let's go," he said coolly as he began walking away from her.

"I'm not done yet!"

"Whatever," Mac kept walking.

"I'll be the gentleman and sit with your girlfriend while your gone," the guy yelled to Mac.

Annie gave him a look and was about to say something, but Mac beat him to the punch. Mac walked back to the table and grabbed the guy's shirt collar.

"Woah...take it easy their tiger. Annie here just told me that you're too big of a softie to fight anyways," the guy tried.

"What?" Mac let go of the guy's collar and looked directly at Annie.

"Yeah. She said you weren't tough enough to get into a fight or anything like that..."

Mac looked really mad. Annie had never seen him that mad. To avoid conflict Annie got up and grabbed Mac by the sleeve.

"Come on. You wanna leave?" Annie tried.

Mac looked over at her and didn't really say anything.

"You wanna leave? Then let's leave," she nodded towards the door.

Without his consent Annie tugged on his shirt sleeve and led him outside. Once outside Annie let go and instantly interrogated him.

"What the hell was that?" she asked in a pissed off tone.

"What?" Mac angrily asked back.

"You almost kicked some guy's ass for no reason!"

"Didn't you hear what he said?" Mac questioned, "Oh wait, that's right you wouldn't. Since you were too busy flirting with him!"

"I was not!" she replied.

"Oh please you were all over him right in front of me. You accepted his drink and then told him all about me! You're supposed to be my girlfriend!"

"I AM your girlfriend! And I consider you one of my best friends. I tell you everything!"

"You don't tell me everything! You wouldn't tell me about the picture and your quote, unquote bad past!" Mac remembered from the fight they had just one day before.

"Are you seriously still on that? Is that what this is about?"

"No it's about you flirting with other guys right in front of me and not giving a shit," Mac replied.

Mac was really mad. He wasn't going to forgive her if she didn't say sorry and he wasn't going to apologize to her for making a big scene.

"Come on, babe. Let's just forget about this ok. This is so stupid!" Annie tried. She tried to hold his hand but he moved it away from her.

"If this was vice-versa, you wouldn't find this very stupid," he pretty much shut her down with that one.

Annie tried to reply but she couldn't think of anything to say. Robbie turned and walked away. He put his hands in his pockets and slouched down with his head down as he walked.

"Robbie! This is so stupid!" she yelled at him. He didn't respond. She tried again, "Robbie! I'm not done yet!"

Robbie wasn't really listening to her at the point, nor did he even care. He walked away leaving his girlfriend in front of the coffee shop. So much for no stress before the game.

--

After the team got home from the arena, everyone went in their separate directions. Some went to meet their parents and others were just hanging out. OC was so happy that he was able to stay on the team. He couldn't believe it. Right after he got to the hotel he wanted to go right up to his room and call his parents to tell them the great news. His family almost weren't going to go to the games when they found out that he got injured. They won't be able to see him play, but at least he'll be on the team. And if they make the medal round he might be able to play by that point.

He walked down to the end of the big hallway of the hotel so he could take the elevator up. He pushed the button and waited.

"Jack," he heard a voice from behind him.

He turned around. It was Rachel. She was leaning against the wall, when she addressed him. His girlfriend may have been waiting for him.

"Rach, guess what! I'm staying on the team," he couldn't hold back his excitement.

"Oh my God!" Rachel shrieked. She ran over to him and gave him a huge hug and a kiss on the lips, "Are you serious? What did Coach say?"

"I don't even know. He just said I'll be able to play in a week or two and that me staying is best for the team," he explained with a big grin on his face.

"This is so great! I'm so proud of you," the blonde smiled then joked, "And what's even more awesome is now we don't have to break up. I only go out with Olympic athletes and all, I mean if you went home I'd have to dump you because I have standards."

"Ha ha ha, very funny," he said sarcastically as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "So why were you waiting down here for me anyways. I thought you'd be scamming on guys or something."

"Ha ha ha, very funny," the New Yorker mimicked Jack, with a Boston accent and all, "Actually, I wanted to tell you my big news. I got into Northwestern Med School!"

"You mean, you got into the Feinberg School?" OC asked. He was happy for her. She worked hard and really deserved it.

Rachel nodded with a big smile, "Yeah. Now, I can go to a great med school and still be able to be home by 7 o'clock dinner."

"You mean cook me dinner for 7 o'clock," he teased.

"Nah you're cooking, man," she winked.

"Why would I ask you to live with me if you don't cook or clean?"

"I'm great company," she gave him a light kiss on the lips, "I gotta go. See ya later, alligator."

"In a while crocodile."

The couple went in their different directions. Finally something good happened to both of them. It was all working out. They both put up with so much crap: Rachel dealing with school, OC dealing with Herb, both of them dealing with each other. It was really great that they finally found a good thing going between them.

OC went up to his room and called his parents. They were thrilled. They told him that if the team made the medal round then they'd come up. They were both really busy and couldn't really afford to miss two weeks of work. But his sister Katherine would come up during her February vacation, along with Annie's brother Charlie.

After hanging up the phone with his parents, he heard his door being opened with a lot of force. Rizzo was with his parents so it couldn't of been him, before he could think of who it was Annie came charging in.

"Did you just break into my room?" OC asked.

"I didn't break in. I used a key-like object," she sounded a little pissed off.

"I thought you left those tricks back in South Boston," he joked. She was from Southie and he was from Charlestown, both part of Boston but on the opposite sides.

"Sometimes I break into places, ya know just for kicks," she said sarcastically.

"What's up your ass?" he asked, sensing from her tone of voice that she was mad.

"Nothing," she sighed, "Do you wanna do something?"

"Get in a fight with Mac?" he asked. He really didn't care, but he knew that she and Robbie had a date that morning. He heard Mac tell some of the guys in the bus.

"So? I thought you'd be happy," she said.

"Not really. I've come to a point where I don't really care what happens. As long as he like doesn't get you pregnant or anything..."

"Don't even worry about it. That part of the story happened right before Christmas," she interrupted. OC gave a confused look but she just continued on, "He's just being a little bitch right now. But whatever, let's go somewhere."

"Alright," OC dropped his crutches to grab his coat, "You should just talk to him if he's being obnoxious. If it's your fault or not it's still pretty cool if a girl talks first. If it's his fault he might feel really bad. You'd get a good birthday gift out of it."

Annie couldn't believe that OC was actually giving her advice about boys. And it was actually good advice. She looked at him with a shocked expression and then laughed, "Thanks for the advice, Jacqueline."

"Anytime...Andrew," he replied, using his boy name for her.

OC was actually right. He didn't even need to hear the problem or anything. She should talk to him. Maybe she can catch him before he goes into the locker room or something. She still didn't really understand why he was mad, because he probably would've done the same too, but she didn't want to have a big fight over nothing.

"Ready to go, Conway?" OC asked, getting Annie out of her train of thought.

"Right behind ya, buddy," she replied.

--

Finally it was game time. Robbie and Annie didn't talk at all like Annie had hoped because she and OC hung out a lot longer than she expected. She didn't go to the locker room before the game, instead she went right to the bench. When the team joined her, Robbie didn't look at her. He still seemed really pissed and tried really hard to focus on the game. Unfortunately for Robbie, it would be harder to focus than he had anticipated.

The guys from the coffee shop that morning were there. And not just at the game, but right behind the team's bench. The worst part was that they kept yelling trying to get Annie's attention.

"HEY BABE! REMEMBER ME?"

"YOU STILL GOING OUT WITH THE WIMP?"

"LET'S GO OUT LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT!"

She was completely mortified. A lot of the guys on the team really didn't know what was going on. They were trying to focus on the game and didn't know they were addressing Annie. It didn't really come to the attention of the whole team, and Herb, until they started slamming really hard into the glass that was right behind the bench.

Annie's face turned the brightest shade of red, it almost matched her hair. She hated it when she got too much attention from someone like the way those guys were acting. It reminded her of working at the bar and that asshole Andrew. She felt the guys on the team looking back at the three guys trying to get her attention. She then saw some of them looking at her and she just covered up her face with her hand and covered it with her long hair.

OC heard the commotion but tried really hard to focus on the game. He didn't even know that it was his best friend who they were talking to and embarrassing. All he had on his mind was the game and how much he wanted his leg to heal so he could play again. He thought that if Herb saw how focused he was the sooner he'd be allowed back in to play.

The whole thing lasted for about five minutes. It was near the end of the first period. At this point Mac was pissed off. He couldn't get off his mind what had happened with Annie in the café this morning and then those guys calling him a wimp and she totally agreed with them! His mind was so wrapped up on it that when he came in he played reckless out of anger. As a result he got hurt. Doc helped him off the ice. Annie wanted to follow to make sure he was okay but Doc made her stay and watch the team, just to make sure nothing else happened.

She watched Doc supporting Robbie as he limped into the locker room. She looked back at them in concern. This was the first time OC finally snapped out of the game and looked at his best friend. He didn't want to say anything about Mac. Nothing he said would've helped anyways. But he did start listening to what those guys were yelling.

"HOPE YOUR BOYFRIEND'S ALRIGHT!"

"YOU'RE TOO HOT FOR A WIMP LIKE HIM ANYWAYS!"

Annie glared at them and instead tried to focus on the game for the last few minutes of the period. She was so embarrassed by them and worried that Robbie hadn't come back yet. The team wasn't playing as well as they should have and now they were losing. She noticed OC glaring at them time and time again and he seemed really pissed. He may have flipped them off once or twice when he knew Herb wasn't looking and there were no cameras focusing on the bench. But that didn't help Annie at all. She was close to tears by the end of the first period because she was so humiliated. The guys were still yelling at her but she didn't even want to look at them and started walking with the team to the locker room.

She was actually one of the last people to leave the bench, following Rizzo. The team started filing into the locker room, Annie would've followed but stopped by a man in a suit. She wasn't sure what his name was but she knew that he worked for USOC. Annie was in no mood to deal with any of the team backers, or anybody right now.

"Is that McClanahan kid going back in?" he asked.

"I don't know yet. I don't even know whats going on," she said coolly and honestly.

"Well that kid better go back in. We're already fucking up without a full team. I knew we should've sent O'Callahan home."

Annie was pissed off. He must've not known that he was her best friend. Annie didn't say anything so the guy in the suit continued.

"You better make sure McClanahan goes back in or..."

"You know what sir, I know you're just doing your job and all...But why don't you just shut up and let me do mine?"

Annie angrily walked away, not wanting to talk to that asshole suit guy anymore. She always loved standing up for herself like she did back there. It made her feel really good. Walking towards the locker room, Annie heard yells coming from inside. It sounded like Robbie.

"I AM A HOCKEY PLAYER! YOU WANT ME TO PLAY ON ONE LEG? HUH? I'LL PLAY ON ONE LEG!"

She then heard some scuffles and some of the guys trying to calm him down. She tried getting in there seeing what all the commotion was about, but Herb charged right out and stopped her. She knew he didn't want her in that locker room right now.

"Get rid of those guys, Conway." Herb ordered sternly as he walked right past her.

He knew exactly what was going on. He probably also knew that those guys were really obnoxious towards Mac. He listened to what they had said and used them against Robbie to motivate him to play again. It was a harsh but brilliant move that only Herb Brooks could pull off. For the past four years, Herb always knew that Robbie felt a little insecure about that and now he brought that into light just now in the locker room. If he didn't Robbie may have not played and their hard work for the last eight months would have been for nothing. This was the Olympics and everything was on the line. One shift can make or break a game.

Before the team left the locker room, Annie left the area and went into the bleachers. Right now she was done being embarrassed and just plain pissed off. Not only did they embarrass her, but they embarrassed a guy she cared about a lot. And Herb yelled at him and her about it. She wasn't gonna put up with that shit any more.

Pissed off, she walked through the stands looking for their area right near the bench. She saw the team started coming back out but she didn't care if they saw her talking to them or not, as long as they left.

"Ok, you guys have to go right now!" she exclaimed loudly in a pissed off voice.

"We paid to be in these seats, ginger," the guy who pretended to be her boyfriend earlier that day said.

Annie just wanted to scream at them, but she had to keep her cool. If she didn't then security would come and she would be kicked out. It would look especially bad since she is an employee of the team and all. The press would have a field day over Team USA yelling at fans. The red head took a deep breath to think about what to say.

"You know I'm a pretty girl...a really pretty girl. Can I have a word with one of you?...Privately," Annie said calmly.

The one that called her ginger got up and the two walked up the stairs so they could talk alone and not be disturbed. A few minutes later Annie arrived back to the bench and the guys left. OC could hear them ask the main guy why they were leaving but all he could do is give her a mean look and call her a bitch. Annie seemed like she didn't care at all. OC planned on asking what she said to him after the game.

Mac played really well despite his injury. He was in a lot of pain and everyone could see it on his face. He didn't care though, he wanted to prove Herb wrong and fight through it. Also, he wanted to prove to his teammates and himself that he wasn't a quitter. Mac never felt so energized or wired while playing. After his shift was done, he spent the rest of the game standing. He was too energized to sit down.

The rest of the game was pretty tense. They were down 2-1 in the last minute of the third period but thankfully Bill Baker scored tying the game in the last few seconds of the game. It was very nerve racking for everyone, and they were all thankful for a tie.

--

After the game, some of the guys went out to celebrate the tie, but Mac didn't. He was asked to go out with them but he didn't want to. His leg hurt like hell, and also he was a little embarrassed by what Herb said to him in the locker room. The guys seemed totally on Mac's side and didn't agree with what Herb said at all, but it still ate Mac up inside. And to top that off, it seemed like that loser that flirted with Annie was right, he wasn't tough enough. His girlfriend probably heard some of his little scene, even though she wasn't in the locker room. He didn't want to confront her and left right after the game, even ignoring Doc's insistence that he check his leg.

As the guys were partying after their surprising tie against Sweden, Mac watched tv in his hotel room. He was lying on his bed and had his leg propped up with a few pillows.

**Knock, Knock**

"Robbie, it's me..." he heard Annie from the other end of the door, "Can I ...can I come in?"

Annie really needed to talk to him. She felt horrible after hearing his fight with Herb and those stupid guys coming to the game. She should have just ignored them when they were flirting with her at the coffee shop earlier that day. She knew that know and was ready to apologize.

"Nobody's here," Mac yelled back at her. It was a little ridiculous for him to say that and he realized that right after he said it.

"Oh well, that's funny. Because I hear a male voice that sounds just like my cute boyfriend," Annie tried.

"Really? I thought it was a voice of an un-tough softie," Mac replied back.

Annie sighed. He was making her feel even worse about what happened that morning. She already felt bad enough.

'That's is,' Annie thought to herself.

She opened her purse and looked through it. It took a few moments but she dug up a bobby pin from the very bottom. She smiled and undid it to make it longer. She then slid it into the key hole and turned it. She heard the door unlock. Bingo!

She opened the door and saw Mac looking at the door, dumbfounded. How could she get in?

"What?" Annie asked as if it was totally normal, "I am from Southie, aren't I?"

"What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be off with your three boyfriends?" Mas asked coldly.

"No!" she defended, "Robbie, I came here to see you. I don't care about those losers at all! I came here to apologize. What I did was really wrong and selfish and I'm really sorry!"

Mac didn't say anything at all to her. Annie was really sorry at this point. She didn't know what to do if he didn't say anything. They didn't always have the best communication skills, and this was an example of that. Mac looked at her with a pissed off expression. He seriously wasn't going to let this one off that easily. Annie stared at him with apologetic eyes. She didn't even know what to do or say. After a moment Robbie turned his head and continued watching tv. Annie didn't know what to do and had to think of something fast. Then something came into her head.

"I was fourteen in the Summer of '73..." Mac turned to look at her. She was going to open up to him about the picture and her past. She knew he wanted to know and the only way that they could communicate through this fight is to be honest with each other and that was what she was doing.

"I worked as a CIT at a sleep away camp in the Berkshires, which is like western Mass. Anyways, while I was there...I met this guy. His name was Steve. He was really cute and eighteen so I thought he was like the most mature person ever...because that's what fourteen year olds think eighteen year olds are. And we hung out and talked a bit. He always seemed to flirt with me and back then guy attention was like the biggest thing in the world for me. So we flirted and stuff. Back then...back then I wasn't the perfect person. I mean I like hooked up. I made out with a lot of guys in seventh and eighth grade, so I didn't have a great reputation. I kissed Steve a lot too. One night it was late and we were hanging out in his cabin. All his roommates were out. One thing led to another and...and we did it. It...it was my first time. I don't even know what was going through my head when it happened. As soon as it was other I left his cabin. I was ashamed...I was ashamed at myself. I didn't want it to happen like that, ya know? I wanted it to be really special, and all my thoughts about how it would happen sorta shattered after that experience. It wasn't like rape or anything because I totally agreed to it, but I still freaked out. The next day I called my parents and they picked me up. I never told them what happened...I just said I was homesick."

Annie was getting really upset by this point. Mac saw the look on her face and knew it must've been really hard for her to tell him. She knew he wanted to know what happened and as painful as it was to relive it, she told him and that took a lot of guts. He could forgive her now, but she wasn't done with her story.

"I changed a lot after that. I had a complete personality makeover. I isolated myself from everyone and everything. In the beginning of ninth grade I met OC and we became best friends. I was completely different after that. I didn't want to rehash the past because I didn't want to remember it. I only wanted to focus on the present and future. I knew that I was a different person back then and I was ashamed of that person. That's why I never told OC and that's why I never told you either. You changed me a lot too, for the best. I wasn't able to stand up for myself at all before I met you. OC held me back a bit in being like an actual girl and all and you totally accepted it. You liked that I liked hockey, and the Stones, and you liked my girly side and my tomboy side. And you mean so much to me, Robbie. I love you and I don't want to lose you. I'm so sorry if I hurt your feelings. My actions today were uncalled for. I didn't really know what else to say besides 'everything' because I knew you wanted to know that and..."

Mac cut her off. She was on the verge of tears at that point. Her past had finally caught up to her at that point. She didn't want Mac to ever know who she was before she met OC. She was afraid he wouldn't like her for it and dump her.

"It's okay, Annie. It's alright. Thanks for telling me," he smiled at her, trying to reassure her.

Annie walked over to the bed, sat down, and gave him a big hug.

"I love you," she whispered in his ear.

"I love you too," he whispered back.

Annie then lied down next to him. She laid her head on his shoulder as his arm was around her. They weren't really paying attention to the tv.

"Are we okay?" Annie asked.

"Yeah...we'll be alright..."

**I told you it was long! Also to make up for making you all wait so long, here's a little preview of next chapter:**

"OC why are you being a goof?"

"What?"

"You've been acting really weird and secretive all day and I don't like it."

--

"Where are you going to get her Valentine's Day gift from?"

"The Jewelry Shop..."

--

"I saw our apartment today"

"Yeah. What did you think about it?"

"Well...it's pretty small. It's like the perfect _bachelor_ pad..."

--

"Phil, you're such a dick!"

"Marguerite, you weren't supposed to arrive here until much later!"

"That really does not help you're case right now, babe."

--

"I think I'm pregnant..."

--

"Will you marry me?"

**Please Review :)**


	37. The Morning After Part 1

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the awesome review! I'm sorry it took so long to get this up! Those team USA posers probably won't be in the story again, but the real team has some funny parts in this chapter!**

**Meadow567: I'm so sorry for making you wait so long! Part 1 is all fluff, but Part 2 is all drama! You won't have to wait long for Part 2, I've got a lot of it written already! Thanks for the review!**

**Iheartobama: Thanks for reviewing!**

**KOLU: Thanks for the amazing review! I love those VH1 countdowns. My personal faves are I Love the 70s, 80s, and 90s (Parts 1 and 2 for all!). And I'm really glad you like Annie. I'm so happy that you don't think she's Mary Sue, I hate those. Like honestly, half the time when I'm writing I think 'Wow I hope she doesn't sound too Mary Sue' haha. You're review was very reassuring. You're gonna like her story arc a lot in these next few chapters.**

**Rejazzz: I'm glad your all caught up! Thanks for reviewing! I hope you like this chapter!**

**Katydid13: Thanks for the review! You won't have to wait very long for part 2, I promise!**

**AN: Okay, here's the chapter. It's actually like half off it. This is nine pages on OpenOffice and I have a lot more. I decided to split it because honestly I think this would be like 20 pages without. And I really wanted to give you guys an update. Here's the first half. This is all fluff. But the next chapter is mostly drama so absorb this all while you can. I'm doing everything from the preview. Most of it is in this first part with exception to a few things, which will be in Part 2. This is definitely on a whim. It's quarter to four in the morning and I just came up with this two parter thing like 2 minutes ago. The title might suck as a result. Part 2 of this is like half written. I'd include it in this, but it just seemed like such a perfect place to end. I hope you like this chapter.**

**AN2: One last thing, Phil's girlfriend's name. It used to be Marguerite, but I changed it to Margaret because it's easier to type out lol. Anyways, here's the chapter (Part 1). Enjoy. Expect Part 2 by the weekend!**

**Chapter 37**

_February 13, 1980_

Mac rolled over in bed to face Annie's back and her messy red hair. The previous day they got in a fight and made up in Mac's room. Annie fell asleep not very long after they made up. She was asleep right on Mac's arm. Robbie wasn't very tired, mostly because he was still wired after what Herb said, and stayed up for a few more hours watching MASH and Olympic coverage.

Robbie was studying his girlfriend's frame for about a second when she too rolled over to face him. Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she gave a light smile when she saw Robbie lying next to her.

"Oh man, did I fall asleep here?" she asked with her tired, morning brisk voice.

"Yeah," the hockey player nodded, "It's fine though. I don't think Magic even came home last night..."

"Jeez. I swear the next time we get into a fight remind me to drink coffee right before confronting you. This is like the third time in a row that we've fallen asleep in the same bed after an argument," she joked.

"Don't worry about it. I kinda like it," Robbie smirked jokingly as he gave her a seductive look.

Annie just laughed at him, "You would."

Robbie chuckled and then asked aloud, "I wonder what time it is. I hope we didn't oversleep."

He turned his head to check the clock. It read ten o'clock. Robbie sighed in relief and then told his girlfriend what time it was.

"That's good. We can still eat breakfast with everyone," she told him.

"Yeah," Robbie nodded as he got up. He took his shirt off and started pulling down his sweats.

"Since when have you become a nudist?" Annie teased, "No, no, no, no! Don't stop I like where this is headed."

Robbie laughed and shook his head as he took off his sweats, now only standing in his boxers.

"I've gotta take a shower," he explained, "You're more than welcome to join me."

"Nah, I should just go back to my room. You don't have the shampoo I like," she said seriously.

"Oh come on, Annie! You've always said you wanted as much volume as I do!" he joked.

"What can I say?" Annie laughed as she defended herself, "You have incredible volume! It's like Jaclyn Smith!"

"Come on! It will be so much easier. You can just take a shower here and then put on the clothes your wearing now and then get dressed in your room. Besides, theres a lot less of a chance of catching OC and Rachel in your room if you spend extra time here. And we save water!" Robbie tried.

At first Annie gave him a blank expression and then he did his little "puppy dog" face. Annie couldn't help but laugh when he started doing it.

"All right. All right. But I hate redressing in clothes I've just worn. I might need to borrow a sweatshirt and a pair of boxers. We're in a hotel for god sakes, when I walk down the halls nobody would judge," she said.

"You can keep them," he told her, "I know you really liked the other sweatshirts I gave you."

"Thanks," she smiled. Then she took off her shirt revealing her bra, "So what are we waiting for?"

--

"So after that she asks me again whether or not I still have the stupid tickets," Phil continued his story to the team as they all ate their breakfast in the hotel restaurant.

"What did you say?" Silk asked as he took another bite out of his waffle.

"I just said yeah. What else was I supposed to say to her?"

"How about telling her the truth. Tell her you hawked them so you could get tickets the Bobsleigh," Buzz laughed. It sounded even more ridiculous saying it aloud.

"Bobsledding is a very competitive sport," Phil defended, "And it's intense. People die, man!"

"Dude, she's gonna kill you. Just get the tickets back... you don't even need to pay attention, man. My ex took me to one of those once. I just brought a Sports Illustrated," Bah tried.

"It's the principle of the whole thing! I mean I don't want to spend my Valentines Day doing that. I wanna watch Bobsledding, play Hockey, and get laid," Phil complained.

"That's the spirit!" Mark joked after sipping his coffee.

"Thank you, Magic," Phil didn't understand his sarcasm, "Besides Margaret said she probably won't even get a flight out here until the day after tomorrow. She'll miss Valentines Day all together and I won't have to feel bad about selling the tickets."

"Ten says this blows up in his face," Buzz whispered to Bah.

Bah looked over at Phil as he picked up a large piece of omelet and shoved it in his mouth. He shook his head, "No bet."

Just then Mac and Conway came to join them. Annie had an overnight bag with her and looked a lot more formal than the rest of the guys who were just in jeans and sweats.

"Hey guys," the red head smiled.

"Do you have room for two more?" Robbie asked looking at the two empty chairs between Buzz and Mark.

"Yeah," Mark nodded.

The couple sat down. The guys gave them funny looks for a second because they were all pretty aware that they got into a fight yesterday. They seemed fine now though.

"Conway, what's with the bag?" Verchota asked.

"I'm going to Buffalo today. I've got an interview with a Med School there," she told them, "It's a pretty long way so I'm spending the night."

"Will you be back by tomorrow's game?" Buzz asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I'll be back at like one I think. The game doesn't start until like five right?"

"Yup," Silk said, "We're playing the Czechs."

"Yesterday I was watching the news. They beat Norway eleven to nothing," Mac informed the guys.

"Jesus," Bah couldn't believe it, "Really?"

"Yeah. And the Soviets beat Japan sixteen to zero," Mac replied.

"Oh fuck..." Silk muttered.

The guys looked a little freaked out at that point. They had every right to. The Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia were considered the two best teams in the world. Robbie didn't even realize that he freaked them all out until after he said it and actually felt a little freaked out himself. Annie saw this and tried to intervene and keep their minds off it.

"Phil, Margaret is coming soon?" Annie switched the subject. She always liked Margaret, she was really funny.

"Yeah," Phil groaned.

"What's wrong with you?" Mac asked.

"Don't get him started," Mark warned sounding really annoyed.

"So Buzz is Gail able to come out at all?" Annie quickly shifted the story following Mark cue.

"Yeah," Buzz nodded, "She's flying out this morning. She should be here by noon."

"Ah man, I'm gonna miss her. I'm leaving in like..." Annie looked up at the clock on the wall, "NOW! I GOTTA GO!"

Annie sprang from her seat and went to pick up her bag. Robbie grabbed it first.

"Relax," her boyfriend reassured her, "I've got it."

"We gotta walk to the car rental place," she told him as she zipped up her coat, which she wore unzipped while sitting at the table.

"Ok," he said, "Later guys."

"Bye guys. See you tomorrow. Be good!"

"Bye mom!" all the guys joked and waved goodbye to her.

"Don't be late for practice, Mac," Mark shouted after him when he finished waving.

"I won't!" he yelled back before he left the hotel with his girlfriend.

She walked really quickly. It wasn't even walking. It was more of a slow jog or really quick power walk. Annie must've been really stressed about this interview.

"Annie! Wait up!" Mac called out to her.

"Hurry up, slow poke!" she said loudly as she waited at a street corner to cross the street.

"Are you ok?" he asked, knowing very well that she wasn't.

"No," she put her hand on her head, "I'm so nervous about this interview. What if it doesn't go well?"

"Don't even think that!" Mac told her, "It's gonna go great."

"What if it doesn't though? I mean this has to go perfect! This is the beginning of our life together and I don't want anything to fuck it up," she confessed giving a worried look on her face.

"It won't. Trust me, you're gonna rock," Robbie reassured her.

"But..."

Robbie interrupted her by putting his hands on her cheeks. Then he repeated, "It's gonna go great."

He then pulled her up to him and kissed her on the lips. They kissed for a few seconds.

"You know you're really good at that," she gave a playful smile when they let go.

"At kissing? I know, I kn..."

"No!" she quickly interrupted, "I mean yeah but...never mind."

Annie grabbed his hand as she led him across the street. Mac went along with her. She smiled at him and seemed less stressed than before.

"So your going out with your parents tonight?" Annie asked.

"Yep," he nodded, "They asked about you. They'll miss you tonight at dinner. I think they like you a lot."

"That's good!" Annie exclaimed over excitedly, then said, "I'm sorry. I just hate it when people's parents don't like me. I don't even know why, it's just a big pet peeve of mine."

"It's alright," Robbie laughed, "I still need to meet your parents. Are they coming up?"

"No," Annie shook her head, "They know I'm moving with you though. I think they want to meet you. We should go to Boston for a few days after this is all over!"

"I can't," Mac said, "I'm starting to play for the Sabres like right after. It's literally Olympics, pack up the apartment, and go to Buffalo. I'm sorry..."

"It's fine," Annie looked a little disappointed but then perked up, "I think I'm gonna see our apartment today!"

"Really? I hope it's big. The GM of the Sabres gave it to me for like a six month lease free, but if I like it I can keep it if I pay for it on my own," Mac said.

"It's gonna be amazing!" Annie gleamed, "God, I'm so excited to get to Buffalo. It's gonna be like The Lost Week everyday!"

Robbie laughed as the two kept walking. Annie wasn't really paying attention and walked in a busy street. Robbie pulled her arm to prevent her from getting too far.

"Thanks," she laughed, slightly embarrassed, "That happens like all the time."

"Anytime," Robbie nodded.

The couple got to the car rental place a few minutes later. Annie rented a small car, she didn't need much space anyways. She was going to be back the following day. Her plan was to get to Buffalo, quickly see the apartment, and go to the interview.

Annie and Robbie hugged before she got into the car.

"I'll call you tonight," she sounded nervous again.

They kissed and after they stopped, Mac gave her a reassuring face.

"It's gonna go great," he said for the third time.

"It is, huh?" she gave a silly look.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"I love you," Annie gave a nervous smile, "See you tomorrow."

Mac patted the side of the car just like he had always seen in movies and Annie started the engine and began her trip to Buffalo.

--

Rizzo was comfortably sleeping in late until he heard the bathroom door open and quickly being slammed shut. The captain rubbed his eyes open.

"What the hell?" he asked groggily.

"Sorry," he heard his roommate apologize sarcastically, "Did I wake ya?"

"Yeah," Rizzo rolled over in his bed and saw OC standing in his towel looking through the drawers. He must've just got out of the shower, "Did you have a late night last night?"

OC chuckled thinking of his night with Rach, "I got in around four."

Rizzo laughed as he sat up in his bed, staying under the covers, "I thought I heard you come in. I fell back asleep though."

"Really?" OC nodded, then he remembered, "What time is it?"

"Eleven thirty...we got practice at one," Rizzo told him, but that's not what he was asking about.

"Shit!" OC grinned his teeth, "Conway left at eleven."

"She's going to Buffalo, right?" Rizzo asked.

"Yeah. For some interview with a Med School," OC explained, "She'll be back by the game tomorrow though."

"Valentines Day," Rizzo laughed, "Figured as much."

"Speaking of Valentines Day, can you go with me to get Rach's gift after practice today?"

"Sure," his friend nodded, "Where are you going to get her Valentine's Day gift from?"

"The Jewelry Shop..."

Rizzo's jaw almost dropped. He's known OC for four years and he's never ever bought a girl jewelry, especially for Valentine's Day.

"Really?" Rizzo asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," OC nodded.

Just then the door knocked. OC, still only in his towel, answered because he was closest to the door. It was Rachel.

"Hey babe," she smiled as he opened the door, "Damn, I missed the shower."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he laughed awkwardly.

"Whatever, I was picking up Margaret from the airport. She's surprising Verchota!" his girlfriend sounded excited, "After you get dressed wanna get some breakfast?"

OC paused for a moment, "Uhhh... you know I can't...I gotta do something..."

"He has to go to practice!" Rizzo yelled. Rachel didn't realize that Rizzo was there, she couldn't see him.

"Yeah," he looked back and nodded and pointed at Rizzo, then looked again at Rachel, "I gotta go to practice."

"Okay," Rachel gave him a confused look, "Wanna hang out after. I'm pretty sure I can get us tickets to luge."

"Nah...I can't."

"Why not?" she looked skeptical.

"Because...I'm hanging with the fellas," he nodded and gave her an I told you so look.

"Ok," she nodded and sounded annoyed, "See ya around, boyfriend."

"Bye," he closed the door in her face.

OC walked back to the drawers and saw Rizzo giving him the weirdest look. He looked like he was about to crack up.

"What the hell was that man?" he started to laugh.

"What?" OC was confused.

"I'm hanging with the fellas..." Rizzo mimicked OC, "Yeah, that was subtle."

"Whatever, man. You're still coming though, right?"

"Yeah,"Rizzo cracked up again and joked, "You can count on me."

--

After breakfast, the guys all went back upstairs to get their gear. Phil, Bah, Buzz, Mark, and Silk all planned to walk to the arena because it wasn't very far away. As they walked through the lobby of their hotel, Silky recognized a very familiar girl.

"Oh my god!" Silk began to point and laugh, "Verchota, look who it is!"

Phil looked and it was his girlfriend Margaret! He couldn't believe it. She wasn't supposed to come for another couple of days. He was screwed...

"MARGARET OVER HERE!" Bah yelled towards Phil's girlfriend, who was waiting in line to check in.

Margaret looked up and saw her boyfriend and a few of his friends on the team. She saw Bah waving his arms, he must've called her. As soon as she saw them, Margaret immediately smiled and walked over to them.

"Hey guys," she gleamed, "Hey Phil."

"Margaret, what are you doing here?" Phil asked in an odd voice. He still couldn't get over it.

"I wanted to surprise you! Are you surprised?" she giggled.

Phil didn't even know what to say. He nervously started to stutter. She was going to kill him when she finds out about the tickets.

"He's speechless," Mark said in his place.

"I'm glad," she nodded then turned to the whole group, "I really wanted to surprise him. You know I even lied to him. I told him I couldn't get in until the day after tomorrow and that I'd miss Valentine's Day!"

"You don't say?" Silk went along with her, "Well I think this is a great Valentine's Day gift. Wouldn't you say, Phil?"

Phil wasn't really paying attention too much. He was coming up with ways to get those tickets back. Not many things scared Phil, but a pissed off Margaret was one of them.

"You bet," Phil responded.

"Yeah and you'll never guess what else!" she was addressing the other guys again.

"What?" Buzz asked in an equally excited tone as she spoke.

"Tomorrow after the game...Phil is going to take me to the Figure Skating competition!"

"Really?" Bah was teasing. They all already knew what happened to those Ice Skating tickets.

"Yeah," Margaret nodded, "I'm so excited! I even saw Linda Fratianne in the taxi on my way here!"

"Get out!" Silk joked, sounding really excited and even giving hand gestures.

Phil decided he needed to tell her the truth. He hawked the tickets for cash, then used the money to buy tickets to the bobsledding event that same day.

"Margaret," Phil interrupted his girlfriend's and friends' conversation, "Can I talk to you privately?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "I'll see you guys later."

"Bye," all the guys said.

As the guys began to leave Bah whispered in Buzz's ear, "He's fucked."

"Yeah," Buzz agreed.

Phil and Margaret left the main lobby and went into the room near the elevators.

"What did you wanna talk about?"

"Well...I...I kinda sold the tickets to the figure skating..." Phil looked down.

"You what?!" Margaret's voice became angry, "What the hell, man?"

"I'm sorry!" Phil tried.

"Phil, you're such a dick!"

"Margaret, you weren't supposed to arrive here until much later!"

"That really does not help your case right now, babe," she was so pissed.

"Wait a minute, here!" Phil said slowly, "You're the one that lied to me! You said you weren't coming until after Valentine's Day!"

"So?"

"So, why would I still keep the tickets if you weren't even going to be here for the event? It's not like I wanna go to the stupid thing anyways. I wanna go to the Bobsledding!"

Margaret was so pissed she didn't even want to look at him, "You know what Phil, go to hell!"

She then angrily walked away back to the lobby to check in. Phil walked passed her, not even looking at her. He was pissed at her too. Why would she expect him to keep the tickets when she lied and said she wouldn't make it? The only reason he was going to go was to be with her, and she said she couldn't go. Girlfriends are so stupid at times!

Meanwhile, while Phil was talking to his girlfriend, the guys began walking to the arena. They wanted to get to the ice early to check out the competition, and the female figure skaters who were there right before their practice. They only got as far as outside the hotel when they were stopped again, this time by someone that wouldn't yell and scream at one of them. It was Gail.

"Hey," she smiled at them all as she got out of her taxi.

"Hey," all the guys greeted her. They all liked her and thought she was cool for being a girl that liked hockey.

"Hey," Buzz walked up to her and they shared a light kiss, "I didn't think I'd see you until after practice."

"Take off was early," she explained.

The taxi driver was done getting her luggage out of the trunk. Gail acknowledged it and tipped him, "Thank you!"

"Do you need help with your bags?" Buzz offered his wife.

"Don't you need to go to practice?" she asked.

"Yeah. But it's not that far and we're early anyways."

"Okay," she smiled as she handed him one of her bags off the ground, "You gotta lead me the way to the room anyways."

"I'll meet up with you guys," he said to Mark, Bah, and Silk.

"Bye guys," Gail said.

"Bye Gail," the three said in unison.

The remaining three guys walked away. Buzz picked up another bag, and Gail picked up the last one and they walked into the hotel.

"How was the flight?" Buzz asked his wife as they walked through the lobby.

"Boring," she replied, "And these obnoxious people were behind me."

"That sucks," Buzz did a double take, he saw Phil walking straight past him and Margaret waiting to check in with a pissed off look.

"What's up with him?" Gail meant Phil.

"He got into a fight with Margaret," he told her, "He sold their figure skating tickets and bought bobsledding tickets instead."

"Oh god!" Gail laughed, "Margaret must be pissed."

"She looks it," Buzz nodded towards her.

"Oh man," Gail continued to laugh.

The two walked through the lobby and got on the elevator. When they got off at the right floor, Buzz lead the way down the hall.

"My parents are already here," Buzz said, "They want to go out to dinner with us tonight."

"Oh.."Gail said in an unenthusastic tone.

"What?" Buzz sounded confused, "My parents love you. What's up?"

They stopped in front of the room and Buzz opened the door to the room. They both entered and put the luggage down.

"Oh no! It's not them at all..." Gail said nervously, "I just really wanted to tell you something."

"What is it?" Buzz asked as he shut the door, "You can tell me now. Nobody's around..."

"Well uhmm..." Gail gulped, "I think I'm pregnant..."

"Wow," was all Buzz could say.

"Yeah," she nodded. She didn't know how he'd react, "I'm not positive or anything. I'm late. And I know we wanted to wait a few more months but, there it is."

"This is great!" Buzz smiled, "No really! This is awesome! Is it a boy?"

Gail laughed, "No! I don't know! I'm not even positive I'm pregnant! I'm just late."

"But that means your pregnant," Buzz said, "I saw the movies in health class. I know!"

"Did you ace health class?" Gail teased as she walked closer to him.

"Yeah. So, I'm pretty much right!" he walked closer to her.

He was acting really cute and sweet at that moment. She gave him a hug, but then Buzz picked her up. She giggled, "Buzz, stop!"

"Gail, we're going to be parents. You know what that means?"

"Yeah! It means you can watch Sesame Street without feeling weird," Gail joked.

"I hope it's a boy! He can play hockey!"

"No way! I want a girl!"Gail told him, "Speaking of hockey, you have to get to practice."

"Shit," Buzz almost forgot, "I gotta go!"

Buzz almost ran out of the room, but he only got as far as the door. He went back in to kiss his wife.

"It's gonna be a boy, I know it!" he joked.

"Get to practice," she jokingly hit him with the shirt she was was unpacking.

"The other key is on the bedside table. I'll see you after..."

"Go! Go! You're gonna be late!" she interrupted him almost laughing again.

He was really happy, and that made her even more happy. She was nervous at first because they wanted to wait a few more months before trying and they were about to move to Switzerland. But he being really excited about it, made her even more excited than she already was.

**Part 2 coming this weekend to a computer screen near you! Please review :)**


	38. The Valentine's Day Massacre Part 2

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the review! The drama in this is a lot but I managed to sneak in some funny stuff too! I hope you like it!**

**KOLU: Phil is gonna have a tough time getting Margaret's forgiveness in this chapter but you'll see what happens there. Thanks for the review! You get to see some of Annie's interview too!**

**Meadow567: Thanks for reviewing :)**

**Iheartobama: Thanks for the review! You'll get drama but I got some funny parts in there too! Hope you like it.**

**AN: Ok first off, so sorry it wasn't up this weekend. It's early Tuesday (1:10 AM) or should I say late Monday (on Pacific time). The reason why I was unable to get it up was because my mom's best friend flew in from Paris because my mom's birthday was this weekend (yesterday August 4th). I had to be with them a lot this weekend and it was fun but boring after a while. I wish I was able to write more. Anyways, I'm happy you all liked my last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too. There's a lot of drama, but I managed to slip in some funny and fluffy stuff as well. I hope you all enjoy!**

**Chapter 38**

Margaret waited in line for the check out right after Phil left. She was so pissed at him. It was her Valentine's Day gift to go see the Figure Skating. She's been waiting forever and he sold the tickets! God, she just wanted to dump him and go home right then and there. Margaret was about to leave when she heard a familiar voice stop her.

"Margaret!"

Margaret turned around and saw OC's girlfriend, Rachel. She met her a few times and she was alright. Rachel actually picked her up from the airport because she got the phone call that was supposed to be for the redhead. She gabbed the whole way to the hotel from the airport but Margaret only could think about the Figure Skating competition that she thought she was going to. All she really remembered about her was that she was from New York City and was good friends with the girl Annie, who may or may not be going out with Mac. She really didn't want to keep up with the team's melodrama.

"Hey Rachel," Margaret plastered on a fake smile.

"Hey," Rachel gave an equally fake smile back. She was just reject by Jack and had no idea why, "Did you see Phil yet?"

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes, "He's such an asshole. I hate guys right now!"

Just then OC and Rizzo came through the lobby, Rizzo with his hockey gear and Jack on his crutches. Jack looked at Rachel and then quickly looked away. She saw him do it.

"Jack!" she called to him, trying to get his attention.

OC nodded awkwardly to her as he left the lobby. He shut her down twice in less than ten minutes. That's like a new record.

"Yeah," the blonde nodded as she watched her boyfriend walk off, "Join the club...We should grab something to eat."

Margaret at this point was in front of the line. She moved up to check in. As the receptionist was getting her key, she turned to OC's girlfriend.

"Ya know...that sounds like a pretty good idea."

This was going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

--

After practice most of the guys went in different directions. OC and Rizzo mentioned something about getting Rachel's gift; Phil went to find a scalper to get two tickets to Figure Skating tomorrow; Buzz, Bah, and Pav went back to the hotel; and the remainder of the guys went out to eat.

"So Gail's pregnant," Buzz told Pav and Bah on their way back to the hotel. They were the first people he told, he still couldn't believe it.

"Woah really?" Bah asked.

"Congrats, man," Pav patted his shoulder.

"Thanks," Buzz replied, "She just told me right before practice."

"Why didn't you mention it to anybody else?" Bah asked.

"Because watching Verchota flip out over those tickets was pretty entertaining," Buzz joked.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Pav asked.

"I think it's a boy," Buzz told her, "I'm not positive because I think it like just happened but it has to be a boy."

"Having a girl would be lame," Bah said.

"Yeah," Pav replied, "They're boring, they don't play hockey. I don't want a girl. I'd want all boys."

"Who wouldn't?" Buzz agreed. To be honest he didn't really care if it was a girl or a boy, as long as it was healthy.

When the coneheads arrived back to the hotel, Buzz immediately went up to his hotel room. He really wanted to talk to Gail about the baby. He opened the door to their room and he saw her lying on her back on the bed. It looked like she was crying.

"Gail..." Buzz addressed her.

Gail propped up, looking pretty upset, "I'm not pregnant. It was a false alarm. I just got my period."

Buzz closed the door to their room and sat down next to his wife on the bed. He put his arm around her shoulder trying to comfort her.

"God, I feel so stupid," she looked down.

"Don't," he told her as he kissed her temple, "It's not your fault. It's gonna happen one day."

"Yeah," she sighed, "I guess your right. I just wish it was today."

Buzz and Gail talked a bit more, but Gail was still pretty disappointed. Buzz was too but didn't say anything to his wife about it when comforting her. Gail then took a nap to calm down and rest after her flight from earlier that day. When Gail was asleep Buzz went to Pav and Bah's room to tell them the bad news and ask not to mention it to the other guys. They understood.

--

"Are you positive her ring size is a seven?" Rizzo asked OC as they walked out of the jewelry store.

"Yes," OC sighed for what felt like the hundredth time.

"How do you know for sure?" Rizzo questioned while looking down at the small box in the bag he was holding for his friend on crutches.

"She joked about it once..."

"How could Rachel make a joke about that?"

"On our first date. She joked that some loser proposed to her on another first date," OC explained, "At least I think it was a joke...come to think about it, she did sound pretty serious..."

"Did the guy get the wrong ring size?" Rizzo interrupted.

"No. She said if I were to pull that than her ring size is a seven," OC said, "Why are you making such a big deal about this anyways?"

The two, who were walking, stopped and waited for the crossing signal.

"I'm making a big deal about this because Rachel seems like she'd make this type of thing a very big deal. Dude, if you fuck up the ring size than she's gonna kick you out of her room for the night."

"Riz, that's not gonna happen. And if it does than I can always sleep in our room," OC then thought about it, "Do you not want me in our room tomorrow night?"

"I don't care," Rizzo answered too quickly.

"Ohhhh," OC laughed, "Rizzo's got a date tomorrow night. Who's the lucky lady, Riz?"

"No one," Rizzo walked quickly away from his temporarily handicapped friend as soon as they were able to cross.

"Who is it? Who is it?" OC repeated over and over again trying to catch up with Rizzo.

Rizzo waited for OC to finish crossing. OC was now joking and purposely annoying him at this point and Rizzo had something to get back at his friend.

"You know, I was just thinking," Rizzo began, "If you're crashing in Rachel's room tomorrow and Conway is her roommate, and Conway is going out with Mac, then Conway's crashing with Mac."

"So?" OC tried to sound like he didn't care but he came off as a child, "I think the real question here is where is Magic sleeping?"

"What do you mean?" Rizzo asked as they started walking again.

"If I'm crashing with Rach, and Conway's crashing with Mac, and Mac's roommate is Magic, then where is Magic crashing? He can't crash in our room cuz you've got a hot date..."

"Wait...that's not the point! You're going off topic!"

"You started it man," OC pointed out.

"No! You did!" Rizzo wasn't falling in that trap again and changed the subject, "Whatever...How are you gonna do it anyways?"

"Do what?" OC asked.

"Give her the ring!" a Rizzo exclaimed. He felt like he was talking to a five year old. But OC was just kidding around of course.

"I don't know yet..."OC sighed, "But I'll figure it out! Don't worry man, you'll still be able to bring your hot date up to the room."

"Thank you!" Rizzo said. He meant about making a plan, but OC thought about the hot date part.

"So now you admit you have a hot date!"

"Shut up!" Rizzo laughed.

--

A few hours after practice and lunch all the guys went back to the hotel and hung out. Not many events were going on that day and there was nothing else to do but just sit around and watch tv. The guys were all pretty bored.

Mac and Mark laid on their beds and flipped through the channels on tv, not finding anything to watch. They didn't want to leave the room by chance that they would run into their parents. Sure, they loved their parents but to them it felt like they were just there hovering like 24/7 and it was getting pretty old, pretty fast. Also Mac was planning on seeing them tonight for dinner, so there was no point of seeing them now!

"Dude, where were you last night?" Mac asked as he continually clicked the channel controls on the remote.

"What do you mean?" Mark questioned.

"You didn't come home, man!" Robbie laughed.

"Yeah I did," the center responded.

"When?" this was new to Robbie. He was up pretty late and didn't hear him come in last night.

"I came in at like two and woke up at nine. You and Annie were asleep the whole time!" Mark laughed.

"Really?" Mac was surprised. He always considered himself a light sleep. Maybe he was wrong.

"Yeah," Mark answered in an I told you so way, then changed the subject, "Whatever man. I'll stay out tomorrow night if you want. I know it's Valentine's Day and..."

"Annie's birthday," Mac finished his sentence, "Thanks man, I appreciate it. Who you gonna crash with?"

"Linda," Mark answered him.

"MAGIC HAS A GIRLFRIEND!" Mac exclaimed over excitedly. He stopped flipping through the channels, "Linda who?"

"Linda Fratianne," Mark replied. Linda Fratianne is an American figure skater, and the skater that Phil's girlfriend is obsessed with.

"She's an ice skater, right?" Mac asked.

"Yep," Mark nodded, "We're going out after her competition and the game. I would've told Phil to ask her for tickets but...he wouldn't shut up about it this morning. Besides his locker room flip out was classic!"

"Yeah it was, wasn't it?" Mac laughed.

Just then the phone rang. It was only five o'clock and Mac wasn't meeting his parents until seven. Mark didn't have any plans with his parents or anybody.

"You pick it up," Robbie nodded to his roommate, then teased, "It might be _Linda_!"

"Shut up!" Mark laughed at how dumb Mac just sounded saying Linda.

Mark finally picked up the phone on the fourth ring.

"Hello?" Mark answered, still laughing at Mac, "...Oh, hey Conway. Yeah... yeah I'll get him!"

Mark then put the phone done and looked at Robbie with the most serious face and then mimicked, "Mac, it's _Annie_!"

Mac grabbed the phone and gave Mark a look, "Hey, kid."

"Hey," he heard his girlfriend reply.

"Are you serious?" Mark laughed.

"Shut up!" Mac laughed back.

"What?" Annie was really confused.

"I'm so sorry, Annie. Can you hold on a second?" Mac then dropped the phone and covered the microphone and tried not to laugh, "Magic, get out of here!"

"Sure thing...kid," Mark laughed before getting up and leaving the hotel room.

Mac then picked up the phone again, "Sorry about that. Mark is acting really different today. I think he's really pumped for this hot date he has."

"That's cool," his girlfriend shrugged unenthusiastically.

"Is everything alright, Annie?"

"I saw our apartment today"

"Yeah. What did you think about it?"

"Well...it's pretty small. It's like the perfect _bachelor_ pad..." she emphasized on the bachelor part.

"What?" the hockey player was confused.

"It's small! It can't fit us both. It only has one room! And the bathroom is teeny tiny. And there are hardly any windows! It's like a prison!" Annie sounded really upset.

"Annie, baby, calm down! I'm sure it's not as bad as you think!" he tried to reassure her, then thought of what the real problem might have been, "Have you had the interview yet?"

"No. It's in twenty minutes. I'm in the building right now, I just have to go upstairs," Annie informed him.

"It's gonna go great," he told her, "And don't even worry about the apartment. We don't have the money to get an other one so we have to make due with what we have. Besides, if it's really that small I can keep all my stuff under the bed!"

"Really?" Annie sounded a lot better. They both had a lot of stuff they were going to bring.

"Yeah," Robbie said, "We'll make this work, trust me!"

"You're right. Sorry I flipped out," Annie took a deep breath, "And you don't need to keep your things under the bed. We'll make space and share and stuff..."

"You should go up to that interview," he told her, "Knock 'em dead!"

"Thanks. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

"Bye."

Mac hung up the phone and took a deep breath. He talked her out of a few crisis that day. She was really stressed about that interview and turned that stress into stuff about their apartment. To be honest he wanted to keep that apartment. He didn't want to give it up. The team manager gave it to him for a few months and he wanted to keep it. Besides that he really didn't want to go out looking for an apartment until he absolutely had to. Mac figured that Annie was probably exaggerating anyways.

'After today's interview she'll be fine,' Mac told himself, 'Nothing to worry about.'

--

After hanging up the call with her boyfriend, Annie left the telephone booth and went upstairs to the dean of admissions office. She fiddled in her chair waiting outside his office and grinned her teeth. She was nervous. She couldn't help it, she just wanted everything to be perfect when she moved to Buffalo with Robbie. She didn't want to be stressed about school and stuff either.

'It's gonna go great!' she reassured herself, 'You're great at interviews. Everyone loves you. It's going to be a piece of...'

Her thought was interrupted by a man opening the door and announcing her name, "Annie Conway."

The red head looked up at the dean of admissions and smiled, "Thats...me."

"Alright. Come in, Miss Conway," he held the door open and gestured for her to enter.

Annie got up and nodded at him as she entered, "Thank you."

She sat down at the chair in front of his desk and heard the door close and him moving towards his chair. She took a big gulp. This was it.

"So Miss Conway, your from Boston I see," he looked down on her application, "What part are you from?"

"I'm from Southie, sir," she told him.

"Wow. I grew up in Dorchester. Right next door," the interviewer said. He was really nice. This wasn't so bad.

"So down to business. Why do you want to attend Medical School here in Buffalo?"

"Well, I'm moving here because my boyfriend is a hockey player and he's playing with the Sabres," she explained with a big proud smile, "He starts playing after the Olympics."

"Alright, then. Now to the most important question. We don't have this on the application because we believe that it's more important to hear in person," he started off, then went into the question, "Why do you want to be a doctor?"

Annie answered, "Ever since I was a little girl my grandfather told me that he had high hopes for me and he always wanted me to become a doctor..."

"I'm sorry, that's not the question. I wanted to know why _you _want to become a doctor," he restated the question.

"I...I don't understand. I thought I just answered that," Annie nervously shifted in her seat and crossed one leg over the other.

"No, Ms. Conway. You told me why you're grandfather wanted you to become a doctor and why you're coming here to be closer to your hockey player boyfriend. You're not your grandfather or your boyfriend. Why do you want to become a doctor and attend school in Buffalo?" he asked again.

"Well..."

--

"C'mon OC, let's go!" Rizzo complained, "Any more grooming and we're all gonna think you're a girl."

Rizzo, OC, and some of the guys were planning on going out to eat. They were all gonna meet in the lobby and of course OC and Rizzo were running late due to OC's need to groom.

"Alright, Alright. I'm done," OC came out of the bathroom with his crutches.

"Great! Let's go!" Rizzo opened the door and saw OC's girlfriend waiting outside the room. She looked mad.

"Hey Riz," she said quickly as she entered the room, "Jack, we need to talk!"

"I'll meet you down in the lobby man," Rizzo said right before he practically ran out of the room.

Rachel and Margaret had a long talk about their guys and Rachel felt really empowered to kick Jack's ass after the way he's been treating her today.

"Rachel, what's up?" OC pretended like everything was normal.

"OC why are you being a goof?" she asked her boyfriend.

"What?" OC pretended to act confused.

"You've been acting really weird and secretive all day and I don't like it," she told him, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," he tried to get pass her. It was no use because she was blocking the door.

"Bull shit," her teeth grinned.

"Bull true," OC said, then confessed, "I'm sorry. I got you a gift today and I don't want you to see it until tomorrow. You understand that?"

"Oh my god, really?" she went from pissed off to excited in one second.

"Yes," he nodded, "And it's sort of a huge deal. You gotta leave right now..."

"Why do I have to go?" Rachel asked.

"It's in here right now!" he exclaimed trying to lead her out.

"Really?" she gasped.

"Yeah, you gotta go. You don't wanna be spoiled don't you?" OC tried.

"You're right," she smiled and kissed his cheek, "I love you."

"Love you too, Rach. Now, we gotta leave," OC nodded towards the door, directing her out. He was hungry

"Ok," she walked backwards out the door and then waited until he left and closed the door of the room for him.

"I'm sleeping in your room tonight, right?" OC asked.

"Yeah, well we're doing a lot more than just sleeping," she said suggestively as she stroked his arm.

"Really? Like what?" he looked down at her, only a few inches from her face.

"Now, I can't tell you. You don't wanna be spoiled don't you?" Rachel giggled.

"You're such a tease!" OC laughed.

"Later," she gave him a quick peck on the lips and walked away.

"I'll rush through dinner," he yelled down the hallway at her.

Rachel laughed, "I bet you will!"

Rachel continued walking away and OC checked her out as she left. She was sure some broad. Only Rachel could make him want to skip a meal. He figured he'd just skip the appetizer and go right for the main course. He'll be back in no time.

--

After dinner with his parents, Mac got back to his room around eight thirty. Mark wasn't around yet, but once he got back the two were planning on going to the bar. He called down to the lobby to see if Annie called him again after the interview. They told him he didn't have any messages. Mac waited around for either Annie to call or Mark to come back to the room as he laid on his bed to watch tv.

'She's probably tired after all the traveling and stuff today,' Mac reassured himself, 'Everything went great.'

About ten minutes into an episode of Charlie's Angels, Mark came back to the room. He was one of the guys that went out to eat with the rest of the team.

"Hey, ready to go?" he asked as soon as he walked in.

"Yep," Mac turned off the tv and got up, "Let me just get my jacket."

Mac got his jacket which was thrown on a chair when he came in.

"Let's go..." Mac began to walk out

"Yeah. On the way I gotta tell you about Rizzo's date tomorrow night," Mark laughed as he followed his friend out the door.

--

_February 14, 1980_

It was finally here, Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is considered by some to be the most romantic day of the year. By others it was thought of as a holiday invented by chocolate and card companies to rip people off and make single people feel like shit. Rachel Dawson being a romantic at heart, despite her attitude at times, believes in the former. And being woken up by her hot boyfriend stroking her arm in bed next to her only made her beliefs stronger.

The blonde rolled over to look at her boyfriend. He had his arm up with his hand supporting his head and he laid on his side, showing his six pack. He looked very cute. No, wait, not cute! Hot!

"Morning," she smiled, "Are you glad you rushed through dinner?"

"Of course. I wanted to get right to my desert," he joked right before kissing her on the lips.

They kissed for a few seconds when Rachel stopped them. She was very impatient and immediately wanted to give him his gift, in hopes of getting hers too.

"I'll be right back," she quickly got off the bed and put her boyfriend's BU shirt, which she found on the floor, on to keep warm.

She opened up one of her drawers and dug to the bottom of it. Then she found it and took it out. It was an envelope.

"An envelope! Thanks Rach!" he laughed.

She laughed in a sarcastic way, "Haha, very funny. Now open it!"

She put on a pair of fresh undies she found in the drawer and sat down on the bed next to him. She handed him the envelope and he propped up. He opened the envelope and inside were two tickets to the Boston Celtics. They were for the week right after the Olympics and right before he left for Chicago. He planned to spend that week home in Boston getting ready for his permanent move.

"Rach, are you serious? These are floor seats! How did you get these?" OC couldn't believe it.

"I have my ways. Do you like them?" she gleamed.

"Do I like them?" he laughed.

OC then grabbed his girlfriend's hips and pulled her on his lap and tickled her. She immediately cracked up and kissed him to stop.

"I knew you'd like them," she giggled as she sat on his good knee, "And plus you get to see that new guy that you were talking about...Larry Bird!"

"Yeah," OC nodded, "He's supposed to be amazing."

OC then kissed his girlfriend, this time not as hard as the kiss right before. It was soft and quick, right on the lips, "Thanks, Rach."

"Welcome, babe," she smiled. Then she clapped her hands, "Ok, my turn! My turn!"

She really wanted her gift. OC wasn't planning on giving it to her...at least not yet. He wanted to wait until that night to give it to her. When they were out to eat. It had to be perfect.

"Later, Rach," he sighed.

"Why not now?" Rachel's impatience grew by the second.

"Because what I'm giving you is a big deal. Something that you'd make a big deal about if it wasn't absolutely perfect. I'll give it to you tonight," OC told her.

"Ok," Rachel sounded disappointed. But then she got to thinking.

"Well since we already showered last night, I'm gonna get dressed," he said as he got up slowly trying not to put too much pressure on his leg. He brought an extra pair of clothes with him because he knew he was staying the night.

As OC was getting dressed, Rachel was thinking about the gift, 'It's something I would make a big deal about and it has to be perfect. He said it in the singular so it has to be...Oh my god! It's an engagement ring! He's going to propose!'

Rachel gleamed and touched her hands to her cheeks as she thought about it. OC noticed her acting weird and snapped her out of her frame of though, "Rach, you okay?"

Rachel then put her hands down and looked right at him, "I'm great! Let's go out to eat for breakfast."

**--**

As things couldn't be any better for OC and Rachel, things couldn't be any worse for Phil and Margaret. She hasn't talked to him since finding out what he did to her Valentine's Day gift. And after having a vent session with Rachel yesterday, she wasn't going to back down.

**Knock, Knock, Knock**

In order to avoid seeing Phil that morning, Margaret ordered room service. It was bad enough they had to stay in the same hotel, only a floor apart. She just really didn't want to deal with him right now. But unfortunately, he did.

Margaret opened the door to see her boyfriend standing there, with a box of chocolates and a bouquet of flowers at hand. She didn't even say anything before she slammed the door in his face. At first she felt sorry and sort of regretted it, then thinking of watching her idol Linda Fratianne on a little crap tv instead of live in person made her pissed off all over again.

--

A few hours later and the guys all headed out for their game against Czechoslovakia, who were considered the second best team in the world behind the Soviet Union. Annie, who was expected to arrive around one o'clock, still hadn't shown up yet. The guys were pretty surprised but just expected that there was a lot of traffic, or that she got a late start. The game started around five o'clock, and Annie arrived at the hotel at 4:30. She was spotted by Rachel, who was on her way to the game.

Annie looked really upset. Her hair was all messed up and it looked like she hadn't slept because the bags under her eyes were huge. She didn't even noticed that she walked right past Rachel, who was approaching her.

"Annie!" Rachel called out to her and ran towards her, after she passed.

The red head turned around. She looked awfully distraught.

"Rachel! Hey! How are you?"

"I'm fine," Rachel grimaced looking at her friend, she looked horrible, "Are you okay?"

"Me? I'm...I'm okay. I've just been driving ya know...driving around. I drove all night.."

Annie was actually physically shaking, it might have been because she was tired and trying to keep herself up. Rachel put her hands on the red head's shoulders to calm her down.

"You drove all night?" she asked in a concerned tone.

"Yeah," Annie nodded her head, her eyes had never been wider, "I started driving right after the interview. I just drove around and around...I drove to New York City and back and then to here...I just couldn't sleep...I couldn't stop thinking..."

Rachel looked around to make sure nobody else they knew was there. Thankfully the whole team was at the arena getting ready for the game. She then turned to face her friend.

"Ok. Let me take you upstairs to our room," Rachel grabbed Annie's arm and led her through the lobby to the elevators.

"Wow...this is some fuckin' birthday...huh?"

The two got into the elevator and Annie talked some more. It was more stuff that made no sense, this was probably due to the lack of sleep that Annie seemed to have. Annie was in really really bad shape. Rachel had never seen her so bad before, even after he grandfather died. She didn't know what happened and didn't want to ask Annie, in fear that she will turn worse. Rachel led her to their hotel room and unlocked the door. She pushed Annie inside and stayed at the door.

"Take a shower and then take a nap. I'll cover for you," Rachel directed her.

"Ok...sure thing," Annie laughed uneasily.

Rachel closed the door and took a deep breath. This couldn't be happening. Everything was going so perfect for them. Why would Annie be acting up like this? Something really bad happened but Rachel had no time to calm down the situation. She felt like Mr. Rochester from _Jane Eyre _and honestly she didn't like that feeling. But Rachel didn't care. She had to cover for Annie during the game, or this could get a lot uglier.

From the hotel Rachel rushed to get to the arena. She arrived with fifteen minutes to spare. She didn't want to go into the locker room because that would've been really awkward talking to everybody. Rachel waited outside near the locker room. Talking to one person like Herb, or Craig Patrick, or even...

"Rachel," the blonde's thoughts were interrupted.

Rachel turned around and sighed, she was happy it wasn't anyone on the team. It was Doc.

"Hey Doc," Rachel laughed nervously, "I was just looking for you."

"Sure, what's up?"

"Well," Rachel began the lie she thought up on the way, "Annie just came back from Buffalo. I ran into her in the lobby. She was stuck in terrible traffic. Anyways, she really wanted to come to today's game, but I told her to go up to the room and take a nap. She looked really tired from all the travel."

"Oh, ok," Doc seemed to believe her, "Thanks for telling me before the game, Rachel."

"No problem," Rachel smiled and nodded, sure of her lie, "Tell the guys good luck from me and Annie."

Rachel began walking away but Doc said something that instantly got her to stop.

"Do you want to fill in Annie's place today?"

Rachel turned around slowly to face Doc again.

"Uhmm...I don't know," she answered, "It might be weird and all the guys would be wondering about Conway. And I've never done this before. Also I have a tendency to yell really loudly at the opposing team..."

"I could always use an extra hand," Doc tried.

"Well," Rachel took a deep breath, "Okay!"

"That's great. The guys are already on the ice," Doc informed her.

"Okay," Rachel laughed nervously, "I'll see you out there, Doc."

Rachel walked away to head towards the bench. What had she just gotten herself into?

--

The team ended up beating the Czechs, seven to three. Everyone was surprised, but they were the most shocked. They didn't believe that they could beat Czechoslovakia, the second best team behind the Soviet Union. Going into the Olympics they thought that they could get the bronze, but after today's victory they started believing that they could go all the way.

The guys were pretty cool about Rachel filling in for Annie, mostly because she lied to them and told them the same thing she told Doc. After watching today's game, Rachel was disappointed that Annie would act up like that and that she had to cover for them. Mark Johnson got hit really hard late in the third period, and Rachel knew it would have been better if Annie was there instead of her.

"Magic, your shoulder alright?" Robbie asked his friend in the locker room after the game.

"Yeah," the hockey player nodded, "It hurts a bit now, but it'll be fine by tomorrow."

"Mark, do you need me to like rub your shoulder or anything?" Rachel asked. She sounded a little nervous when she asked because she didn't know if thats what she was supposed to ask or not. But the guys didn't find it weird because Annie would've asked the exact same thing.

"No thanks, Rachel. I'll be alright," Mark responded.

"Linda will make it alright," Robbie joked.

"Ok, so I don't have anything else to do?" Rachel asked and the guys shook their heads, "So I'm gonna take off."

Rachel walked towards OC and the two walked out, planning on going right from the game to the restaurant for dinner. Mac and a few of the guys right after them and bumped into them outside the arena. As OC were talking to a few of his teammates, Mac talked to Rachel about his girlfriend.

"Is Annie in your room?" he asked.

"Yep," she nodded, "She was so exhausted, she really needed the rest. Just knock on the door and she'll let you in. You guys gotta move it on out though because after dinner Jack and I..."

Mac cut her off, "I get it. You don't need to say any more."

Rachel laughed, "Yeah. You should tell Annie about the game. You all played awesome and she really wanted to see it. You should watch it on tv. It's supposed to be on in like an hour."

None of the games were broadcast live on the weekdays. They were shot around five and then played prime time on tv later that night. Only some weekend events were live.

"Good idea," Robbie nodded, "It's gonna be weird seeing myself on tv."

"Yeah. I hear ya. And on top of that all the commentators judging your performance and stuff," Rachel agreed.

OC turned to Rachel at this point and asked if she was ready to go. She nodded and the couple said their goodbyes to their friends and continued their walk to the restaurant. When they arrived at the restaurant they sat down, Jack ordered champagne, and they read the menu. Rachel wasn't thinking about food, she was thinking about the ring!

"So did you have fun filling in for Conway?" OC asked.

Rachel nodded, "Yeah. It's really cool seeing the game from the bench."

When the champagne arrived to the table, Rachel instantly thought it was going to be at the bottom of the champagne glass. That would be so romantic! And it was also how her father proposed to her mom. Rachel picked up her glass over her head and looked up to examine the bottom.

"What are you doing?" OC asked.

"Nothing," she groaned disappointedly. She didn't see any ring.

"So do you want your present now?" OC gave his signature smile.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Rachel clapped her hands in anticipation.

OC then pulled a small box out of his pocket. It was definitely a ring box! Rachel gasped, half pretending to be surprised and the other half not believing she was getting married. The blonde to the little box out of her boyfriend's hand and opened it.

"Wh...what?" the color on Rachel's face drained.

It wasn't an engagement ring. It didn't have a diamond or anything. It was just a simple silver ring.

"What is this?" she gave her boyfriend a very upset look.

"It's a promise ring," he explained.

"A promise ring?" she was growing more upset and embarrassed by the second, "A promise ring? I thought you were going to propose!"

"Propose!?" OC laughed, "No way! I don't want that...at least not yet anyways."

"Why would you give me a promise ring? What are you, fifteen?" Rachel voice became louder and angrier.

OC then became defensive, "Why would I want to propose to you? We always fight! This week has been the longest time we've gone without a fight or a breakup!"

"Oh yeah! Well that streak is over, bucko! We're done!" she threw the box on the table, bolted up and rushed out of the restaurant.

The whole restaurant seemed to witness the fight that took place. OC was really embarrassed. He didn't think that she wanted to get married yet either. And he didn't even hint to her anything about a possible engagement. A defeated OC picked the ring box up from the table and put it in his pocket. He then paid for the champagne by throwing some money on the table, got up, and walked away with his head down.

--

**Knock, Knock, Knock**

Phil waited a few seconds outside of his girlfriend's hotel room before she answered. She groaned and was about to slam the door in his face for the second time, when Phil put his hand on the door to prevent it.

"Margaret, wait! Just hear me out!" Phil tried.

The brunette sighed and let go of the door. Then she folded her arms and gave him the 'I'm waiting' look.

"Ok. First off, I know you're not that mad because I saw you in the stands at the game...You still care," the hockey player said.

"Of course I care!" she exclaimed, those were her first words to him since the day before, "But it's obvious that you don't! You knew I wanted to see that competition. I love ice skating and I've been talking about this for months. And you going out and selling them all for..."

Margaret suddenly stopped talking. She was interrupted by her boyfriend. He didn't cut her off by saying something over her or trying to explain himself. He did the romantic gesture that could be a scene from a movie. He held up the tickets to the ice skating.

"Now I know that it doesn't start for another forty-five minutes so if we go right now we..." Margaret cut him off. She gave him a big hug. He really did care.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear.

She then let go. She didn't apologize back and frankly, Phil didn't expect her to. But she did look like she forgave him though. And despite the fact that Phil had no desire at all to go, he was happy because of that one look she gave him when she saw the tickets. It was like everything was ok.

--

After Mac left the arena, he went straight to the hotel to see his girlfriend. It was like a double holiday for him to give her gifts for. Not only was today Valentine's Day but her birthday too. He had a very romantic night planned.

When he arrived at her hotel room and knocked on the door it took a minute or two for her to open the door up. He must've just woken her up. Her hair was wet and in a messy bun and she was in sweats and a BU tee shirt.

"Hey," Robbie greeted her the second she opened the door, "Happy Birthday and Valentine's Day."

He kissed her cheek as he walked passed her, as she held the door open. Robbie sat on her bed and she shut the door and sat down beside him.

"Sorry I woke ya. You missed a great game," Robbie told her, "We should watch it later. It's on soon."

"Really?" Annie yawned, "Sounds like you guys won."

"Yeah. Seven to three!" Robbie was really proud.

"Congrats!" Annie gave a half smile, which seemed sort of forced.

Robbie noticed this and the awkward presence she was bringing to the room. Something must've been up.

"Annie, are you okay?" he asked his girlfriend.

Annie rubbed her eye and temple with her hand, "I've just had a really bad twenty four hours."

"How did the interview go?" Robbie attempted. He regretted it right away, assuming that was the basis of her problem.

"I don't want to talk about it..." she told him in a soft but stern voice.

Robbie sighed. This was not good at all. But they're were always other Med Schools in Buffalo. It wasn't the end of the world and he tried to tell her that.

"It's gonna be okay. We're going to be fine. There's more than one Med School in Buffalo..."

"Robbie please!" she interrupted him with a loud and cruel voice. He's never heard her talk like that before.

"I'm sorry," he sighed as he looked down to his feet.

Annie turned to him. He looked a little hurt by her tone. She probably would've felt the same as he did. It was really bitchy.

"I'm sorry!" she apologized in a kind and meaningful tone, "You're amazing. This...this is all on me..."

"No it's not!" Robbie tried, "Whatever happened during that interview...it's not the end of the world. We're a team and we're gonna get through this. You can apply to other Med Schools..."

"Robbie..I..." Annie tried but he stopped her.

"Hold on! Stop right there! Let's go to my room! I have my gifts for you in there. They'll make you feel better," he got up and walked anxiously towards the door.

Annie reluctantly got up and followed. When they got to his room, he opened the door and she sat on his bed as he walked through his room. The red head wasn't really paying attention to what was going on. Robbie sat down beside her on his bed a few seconds later. He took her hand.

"Ok, Annie Conway. I love you. And no matter what happened in that interview we're going to get through this together," Robbie then took out a small box from his pocket.

"Robbie..."

"No, no, no! I made a promise to you that I would give you the best gift ever. And when I was thinking about it and thinking about us I realized that if you're going to move to Buffalo with me than it's obviously going well. So..."

Robbie then opened the small box and revealed a ring. It was an engagement ring with a beautiful diamond on it.

"Last night I went to dinner with my parents and my mom gave me this. It was her engagement ring and her mother's before that. I want you to have it..."

"Oh god..."

"Annie Conway," he then got on one knee as tradition, "Will you marry me?"

**Long huh? Yeah, this is almost 15 pages on OpenOffice. Please review! I hope you all liked it!**


	39. Heartbreaker

**Katydid13: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked my chapter!**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks so much for that awesome review! All you're questions are gonna be answered in this chapter. It has Annie and Robbie as well as Rachel and OC. I really hope you enjoy!**

**Meadow567: Thanks for reviewing! A lot of drama is going to happen in this chapter and I really hope you like it.**

**AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in 2 months now! It's been so crazy! I just was so busy with getting ready to go to college and settling into my dorm room and stuff. And about 3 weeks ago my cousin was killed in a car accident. It's been a really stressful time. This chapter is dedicated to her. I hope you all like it and I'm so sorry it's taken to long to update.**

**AN2: The italic parts are all flashbacks and the normal text are present. Well not present but 1980 lol, but you get it.**

**Chapter 39**

**February 20, 1980**

The tall red head girl stood in the middle of the lobby of the hotel. She had her arms crossed nervously and her foot was taping. She was obviously waiting for something or someone. She looked around to see if he was coming. She turned her head a few times and finally saw him walking towards her from the elevator. He was five minutes late. Behind him was Rachel and OC holding hands and smiling. OC wasn't using his crutches, which the red head thought was pretty stupid, but she didn't want to make any big deal about it right now.

"Annie," the girl was snapped out of her own thoughts.

"Hey Robbie," she gave a half smile.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

Annie then reached into the pocket of her jeans and took out two tickets. It was for the hockey game between Czechoslovakia and Sweden. It was a morning game, but it was very important. The guys played their last regular round game against West Germany in the afternoon, but they all knew that they were going to make the medal round. The reason they wanted to know the results of this game was because the winner determined who they would play in the first game in the medal round. If Czechoslovakia won than they would most likely be playing Finland, but if Sweden won than they would probably be playing the Soviet Union because the Soviets would be first and the Americans would be second in their respective divisions. Annie got her hands on a pair of tickets by budding up to some of the coordinators of the events. Annie and Robbie had planned on this for a while.

"Here," she handed him the ticket.

The hockey player took the ticket from her hand, "Thank you."

--

"_Annie," Robbie was still on one knee._

"_What?" Annie put her hands through her long red hair._

"_I've stayed in this position for five minutes now," he informed her, "You haven't said anything and my knee is starting to hurt."_

"_I'm sorry," Annie looked down. She couldn't look at him, not when she was like this and with him proposing too!_

"_I guess it's a no then..." Mac stood up in defeat._

"_No!" Annie stopped him, "It's not that...it's just...the interview went horribly."_

"_Annie, there are other medical schools in Buffalo," Robbie tried._

"_I don't know if I want to go to medical school," Annie was near tears, "I mean going into the interview I felt fine but when I answered the questions...God...I realized that the only reason I wanted to become a doctor is because of my grandfather..."_

"_What are you saying then?" he sat down next to her on the edge of the bed._

"_I'm saying that these past four years have been a mistake. I don't want to become a doctor. I mean for the first time last night I thought of what I want. And I've realized that I don't want that," she explained._

"_That's okay! That's okay! We can figure out everything together. I love you Annie Conway," he put his arm around her shoulders._

"_I love you too," she sniffled, "Can you just give me a couple of days...to think about it."_

"_Yeah," he nodded and lightly kissed her temple._

_The young couple sat in silence for a few minutes at the edge of the bed. Then the hockey player spoke up._

"_The game is on in a few minutes," he explained, "Wanna watch?"_

"_Sure."_

_--_

"Is it fun to actually watch some games?" Annie asked Robbie as they sat in the bleachers waiting for the second period to start.

"Yeah," Robbie nodded, "All I've done is play this whole time. I haven't really watched any other countries playing except for when we play them."

"You're lucky, all I've done is watch," Annie joked.

"Well you can play hockey soon. You did learn how to skate from the best," Robbie remembered breaking into their practice arena and teaching her how to skate.

Just then the Czechoslovakian team came back on the ice and skated to their bench. Annie and Robbie cheered. They really wanted them to win so they wouldn't have to play the Russians. The odds were sort of against the Czechs at this point because they were killed by the Americans and the Americans tied the Swedes. Still, they were supposed to be second in the world.

"I've never rooted for anything Communist before," Annie said loudly over the crowd than laughed.

"Me neither," Robbie agreed and laughed too.

--

_Annie's eyes fluttered open slowly the next morning. It was a pretty quiet night for Robbie and Annie. After the proposal their wasn't much said between the two. The proposal, as well as Valentine's Day and Annie's birthday, wasn't discussed. After the game they both fell asleep on Robbie's bed. _

_Annie stretched as she rose into a sitting position. While yawning she looked around the room. Robbie must've already left. He wasn't next to her and the shower wasn't on. She stretched her arms out in front of her and yawned again. She blinked for a second and when she opened her eyes she saw the diamond ring on her finger. He must've slipped in on while she was sleeping._

_The red head immediately stopped mid yawn to look at the beautiful ring. It truly was classic. It was like something seen in all the romantic movies. It was a weird feeling for her to be wearing the ring. For one thing she wasn't very used to wearing jewelry and also because it strangely felt really tight around her finger. It was almost suffocating._

_Annie was about to attempt to take it off but then she saw a note left for her on her bedside table. It was from Robbie. It read:_

"_Think about it. I'll meet you in the lobby at noon."_

_She hoped he would give her more time than until just noon. Annie got up and left the room to get ready to see Robbie. She forgot that the ring was on her finger because she was trying to picture what she'd say to him if he wanted the answer now. She was in no state to make life important decisions like that. She needed more sleep, a large cup of coffee, and an idea of what the hell she wanted to do with her life._

_Annie entered her hotel room she shared with Rachel. The blonde girl was sitting up on her bed watching tv and eating chocolates out of a heart shaped box. She looked pretty upset._

"_Hi," Annie entered the room. She remembered that Rachel was the one that helped her out the day before, "Thanks for yesterday..."_

"_Whatever," the girl sighed, not even looking away from the tv._

"_Rough night?" the red head tried to start a conversation, anything to get her mind off Robbie._

"_I spent my whole night in here watching tv and getting fat off these chocolates. Jack is such an asshole!" Rachel complained._

"_At least he bought you chocolates," Annie tried to make her feel better._

"_No he didn't. I bought these myself from the gift shop before I came up here," Rachel explained, "God, I hate him! I thought everything was going great and that we were ready to take the next step..."_

"_You guys are living together though," Annie pointed out, "Isn't that enough?"_

"_I'm talking about marriage here, Conway," Rachel talked to her as if she was a baby._

"_You wanted him to propose?!"_

"_Yeah," the blonde sighed, "And he didn't. He gave me some stupid promise ring. I thought he was going to propose. I feel so stupid!"_

_Annie sat down on the bed next to her friend. She put her hand on her shoulder in a reassuring way, "He's my best friend and he probably..."_

"_What the hell is that?" Rachel looked down at Annie's hand. She spotted the diamond ring._

"_Nothing!" Annie quickly removed her hand from her friend's shoulder._

"_I can't believe you and Mac are engaged! Get out of here!" Rachel was really pissed. Why couldn't it have been her?_

"_Rachel..." Annie didn't want to leave._

"_GET OUT!" Rachel was really angry._

_Annie was too tired to argue and when Rachel got mad you could cut the tension with a knife. Rachel could go from happy-go-lucky to pissed off faster than anybody Annie had ever met before. She didn't want to feel the tension so she made a smart choice and left. Annie just couldn't believe that she was being thrown out of her own room._

_The red head just wanted to lie down again at this point. She got up way too early. Well, it wasn't that early but she stayed up all night the previous day so she was still pretty beat from that. Kicked out of her room and not wanting to go back to Mac's, she only had one other place to go._

_**Knock, Knock, Knock**_

"_Hey Conway," OC opened the door to see his best friend. He hadn't seen her in a few days. She didn't exactly look that great right now._

"_Hey OC," Annie said in a sarcastically nice way, "Go talk to your psycho girlfriend right now!"_

"_Ex-girlfriend," OC corrected her, "She dumped me last night because I didn't propose."_

"_Dude, you have no idea how much I'm on your team right now for right and wrong times to propose, but you need to talk to her!"_

"_Do I have to?" OC whined._

"_Yes!" Annie was angry, "I'm tired, I just got kicked out of my room, and I just want a place..."_

_OC then noticed the ring on her hand that she was flailing around in anger and interrupted his friend, "Are you and Mac engaged?"_

_Annie rolled her eyes and put her hand in her pocket. She put the non-ring hand through her hair, "I don't know."_

"_How do you not know, man? The ring is on your finger," OC laughed._

"_Long story. And I would love to catch you up later but right now you really need to talk to Rachel because she's insanely emotional right now and you caused it and I got kicked out of my room and I would like to sleep," she kept complaining, "Can I sleep in your room?"_

"_Sure," OC opened the door wider for her to come in and he stepped out, "We'll talk later. You and Rachel are both nuts. I'll deal with her first..."_

"_Thank you!" Annie practically slammed the door in his face once he left the room, but then quickly opened it again, "Make sure I can get back in my room!"_

_--_

"You should be using your crutches..." the blonde sighed looking up at the hockey player as they walked through the Olympic Village.

"I don't need them," he tried to convince her. He's had them for almost two weeks now. His leg was healed. He didn't need them anymore.

"Jack, did Herb or Doc say that you can stop using them?" she questioned.

"Rach," OC sighed, "It's fine. We're in the medal round and I think I can play now. I need to get used to walking without the crutches."

"Your not in it yet, the team still has one more game. Does it hurt at all?" Rachel asked.

"Nope," he shook his head.

Rachel stopped in the middle of the busy sidewalk of the Olympic Village. It always annoyed her when he gave her half ass answers like the ones he just said.

"Jack, wait a minute..."

OC rolled his eyes. She was definitely a worrier. Rachel had a very unique personality. She can go from love to hate in two seconds and she worried a lot about everything, all the time! It sometimes annoyed the hockey player. But he knew just how to play it.

"Rach," he repeated and placed his hands on her shoulders, "I'm fine. My leg feels better than ever. All I want to do now is walk around Olympic Village with my favorite girl...Unfortunately I couldn't find Bo Derek so you'll have to do."

Rachel giggled and hit him lightly in the arm, "You're lucky to have me! You'd be lost without me!"

OC knew her all too well. Throw her off course with a joke and she'll say something flirty back. It will be like she didn't have a care in the world.

"You're right," he smiled down at the blonde and kissed her lightly on the lips.

The blonde girl kissed back and when they let go she smiled up at her boyfriend. He was right when he said they were always on and off. Right now they were definitely on and they were going to try their hardest to keep it that way. The couple began walking again and Rachel couldn't get her mind off of OC's knee. OC always thinks that she forgets their previous conversation if he jokes and changes the subject, but she never does. She is just really good at taking the hint. She knew that he didn't want her to talk about it with him and act like his mother about it. So she decided not to play that card anymore. Instead she lightly held onto his arm. It was a simple act for him to know that she loved him and that she was there for him. When OC felt her hand on his arm, he looked away from her and smiled. They had the strangest relationship at times and he loved it.

--

"_Rachel it's me open up!" Jack called out to her through the door right after he knocked._

_Rachel fiercely opened the door with an annoyed and furious look on her face, "Mac and Conway are engaged! They've been going out for less time than us and they're engaged! What the hell is your...?"_

"_Rachel!" OC interrupted her in a stern voice, "Can you just listen to me for like two seconds?"_

"_Why should I?"_

"_Because your the first girl I've actually said I love you to and meant it and you owe me for that," OC said looking straight into her hazel eyes._

_The blonde sighed and moved away from the door so that Jack could enter the hotel room. As soon as OC got inside she closed the door. Rachel sat on one of the twin beds and OC kept standing with his crutches._

"_You should sit," she said quietly without looking him in the eye, "I don't want you to hurt your leg any more than it already is."_

"_I'm fine..." OC replied, "Look, there are a ton of reasons I didn't propose and I know deep down that you don't want to get married now anyways. The way I see it is that we break up all the time, like everyday. I just wanna see us together for a while, without breaking up at all. That's why I gave you the promise ring. That in itself is already a really big step for me ya know. Your a really special girl and one day I'm going to marry you, Rachel Dawson. I gave you that promise ring so in a few years when your done with Med school and become a big hot shot doctor that you'll still keep me around. I'm a pretty good catch and..."_

_OC noticed Rachel getting up from the bed and she walked right over to him. Before he could say anything else to her she put her hands on his face, stood on her tippy toes, and gave him a big kiss right on the lips._

"_I'm in for one more go if you are," she smiled._

"_I've got the promise ring right in my pocket," he took out the ring and gave it to her._

_Rachel slid it onto her ring finger and admired it. It actually was a pretty ring. She kissed him again and said, "I love you too."_

_--_

After the second period ended, Annie and Robbie sat around waiting for the game to start up again. The Czechs and Swedes were tied 2-2 going into the third.

"So are you nervous about the game?" Annie asked Robbie.

"Which one? Ours or this one?" the hockey player replied.

"Well...both I guess," she laughed.

"Tonight's game against Germany should be easy. I mean they're like one and three. I'm more nervous about the game right now. I don't want to play the Soviets first," Robbie answered.

"Yeah Germany sucks," Annie agreed, "They lost against the Czechs eleven to three a few days ago. But don't worry about the Russians. I mean if you're going to win you're gonna have to play them eventually. Might as well get it over with, right?"

"I guess," Robbie nodded, "Are you nervous?"

"Well yeah. I mean if we're gonna play the Soviets eventually we..."

The hockey player cut her off, "Conway, that's not what I meant and you know it..."

--

_**Knock, Knock, Knock**_

_Annie opened the door of her hotel room and saw her boyfriend, Robbie McClanahan, stand outside her door. They hadn't talked in a few days now, she's sort of been blowing him off and when she saw him, she made sure that Valentine's Day would not be brought up._

"_Annie," he began, "It's been a few days now. I've given you your time and space and now I need to know. Do you wanna marry me?"_

_The brown eyed girl had no idea how to respond to this, "Come in."_

_She opened the door wider and the hockey player stepped inside. Annie then closed the door then said the first thing that came to mind._

"_Robbie, you know I love you but..."_

"_But you don't want to marry me," Robbie finished the sentence._

"_I don't know I mean so much stuff in my life is undecided now! That interview made me think about a lot. I don't know what I wanna do with my life. There's so much things I've wanted to try and so many places I've wanted to see. I've come to think that the only reason I wanted to become a doctor is because my grandfather wanted me too. And..." Annie stopped mid sentence. She thought she was going to cry during all this but she didn't. She was like a rock._

"_And what?" _

"_And the only reason I wanted to go to Buffalo was to be with you. The only reason I stayed in Minnesota was to be with you."_

"_What's that supposed to mean? Am I holding you back or something?" Robbie sounded upset._

"_No! No, Robbie! That's not it at all! If anything you helped me grow up so much. I mean this, us, it's been really great and you've helped me so much. Before you there would've been no way I could've stood up to OC. I know he cares but sometimes his protectiveness was just obnoxious, and you helped me deal with him. You made me feel pretty when no one else did and you helped me not feel like an idiot when I sang along with songs in the car. Robbie I love you but I can't marry you! Not now, we're both too young and I have so much I wanna try. And I don't even know what I wanna do with my life. Let's just try to do this slowly okay? I'll go back to Boston and you can be in Buffalo and we can just figure it out in time..."_

"_No," Robbie shook his head, "I won't do that. It's either now or never. I know you and I know that you love me, and I love you too. But this won't work. When we're apart, we're gonna break up. And don't say that won't happen because it will. After the Olympics are over, you're going to do something really great. And we'll see each other less and less. And you'll outgrow me. You're not gonna need me anymore. And I probably should've figured that out a long time ago, you've always been too good for me."_

"_No I'm not," that's when Annie finally felt the tears coming, "You are incredible Robbie, truly amazing. Probably the best boyfriend anyone could ever ask for. I know this sounds so cliché and lame but it really isn't you, it's me. I feel like such a bitch right now. I'm breaking your heart and you're being so understanding. I'm really not that great a person. Honestly, I'm not. I've always tried to be a better person when I'm with you. But right now I need to find myself, because for a long time I haven't known. I've always tried to change myself, after I lost my virginity, when I met you, when I worked at the bar... I've always wanted to backpack through Europe, but I've always been afraid of flying. Hell, you convinced me to go on my first flight ever."_

"_I regret it now. I've helped you grow up to get away from me. Like I'm your Winnie the Pooh to you're Christopher Robin. You should go to Europe. Hell do anything you want. I guess we're over now," Robbie just wanted to leave. It was over. She rejected him. He always feared this would happen, and now that it finally has, he doesn't even know what to think._

"_I'm so sorry," she sniffled softly, "And it's not over until Wednesday. We still have the tickets to that hockey game."_

"_Oh," he replied, "I...I guess I'll see you then. Let's not tell the guys anything now. They're gonna make a big deal about it."_

"_Yeah," Annie nodded, "Good idea. I'll see you the day after tomorrow."_

--

The final buzzer went off. It was official. Sweden won, which means that the US team would be playing the Soviets first.

"So I guess that's it then," Annie nodded.

"Yeah," Robbie agreed.

"It's been a good run," she tried to joke.

"Yeah, it sure has been," Robbie chuckled.

That was their official last date. The ex-couple agreed not to say anything about the break up until after this. No one knew that Robbie proposed except Rachel and OC, who Annie made promise not to say anything. They both agreed to say that it was a mutual decision and they both wanted to do their own things for a while. They knew from the beginning of their relationship that the team was going to be a big part of it right until the end, and it was.

Annie and Robbie walked together back to the hotel. She was going in and he was going to walk straight to the arena to get ready for his game.

"Bye Robbie," she kissed his cheek for the last time.

"I'll see you around, Conway," he said his goodbye. That wasn't the first time he said that to her, but hearing it was like a stab in the heart.

It was over.


	40. You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the review! I'm sorry the chapter made you sad. This chapter is a funnier one, I hope you like it!**

**Meadow567: Thanks for reviewing! I like your prediction. It's half right in this chapter...but that may not be the way the rest of the story plays out. Hope you like it.**

**Iheartobama: Thanks for reviewing! Annie's annoying habits will be talked about in this chapter lol. Congrats on Obama :)**

**Rejazzz: Thanks for reviewing! Mac and Annie don't have much in this chapter except for a part at the end. I hope you like it.**

**AN: I hope you all like this chapter! Thank you everyone who read and reviewed my last chapter! Sorry it took so long to get this up. I was gonna put it up next weekend during the long weekend but my computer started to smoke and it was so bad. I lost my computer for a few days while it was getting fixed. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It has more funny parts than the last one :)**

**Chapter 40**

"What works better the gum or the patch?"

"I don't know, Conway. I've never quit smoking before."

"That's because your not cool enough to even try it OC."

It was the day before the teams first medal round game. It was going to be against Russia, but it wasn't officially announced until later that afternoon. Before a quick practice, Conway and OC finally had some time to hang out together just the two of them. Things had been quite hectic lately and they barely had a chance to talk at all. And what better place for the two best friends to go but to a drug store to track down something that will help Conway quit smoking.

"So what drove you to want to quit smoking?" OC asked curiously as he handed her a box of the gum.

Annie eyeballed it as she responded nonchalantly, "Robbie..."

"Mac is making you quit?"

"No," she looked up at him, "We broke up. I don't want to stress smoke during this time. Besides I'm desiring a major me change..."

"You two broke up?" OC couldn't believe it. After all the time she spent defending and fighting for her relationship and now it's over. What could've happened, "What did he do?"

Annie snickered, "Nothing...No Robbie didn't do anything. It was all me. He wanted to take the next step and I'm not ready for it."

"So you're not moving to Buffalo with him?"

"Nope."

There was an awkward silence between the two friends. They hadn't talked that much about Annie's relationship with Robbie after OC found out, only small little things here and there. OC never asked questions either, which made this even weirder.

"I'm sorry to hear about your break up," the hockey player said a minute later, when the two reached the line for the cash register.

"I thought you didn't really care about this," Annie said.

"I don't. I just don't want to see you get hurt thats all," OC said honestly.

"Wow," Annie joked, "Rachel has been a good influence on you."

"Please more like other way around!" her best friend laughed.

"Whatever you say, born-again sensitive," the red head had the last word.

OC shook his head in defeat as they neared the end of line. While Annie paid for the quit smoking gum, OC gave her some advice.

"Conway, don't change too much okay? I mean, I still want my best friend from last year. I didn't even know about your smoking until like last month but if you still wanna smoke then..."

"OC," the brown eyed girl cut him off, "I'll be fine. I should be worried about you. Use you're goddamn crutches!"

"Whatever," OC groaned as the two left the drug store, "Are you going to practice?"

"No," Annie shook her head, "Doc gave me the morning off. I'll see ya after."

"Later"

OC left the walk to practice and Annie walked in the opposite direction back to the hotel.

---

"Dude, did anyone watch the speed skating last night?" Pav asked everyone as a group of hockey players ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant before breakfast.

"Nah, man. What happened?" Bah replied.

"Heiden won his fourth gold," Pav explained, "His last competition is tomorrow. He could win five for five."

"Jesus," Buzz laughed.

"So Mac, where's Conway this morning?" Phil asked right before taking another bite of his omelet.

"Yeah I'm surprised she's not here. She never misses breakfast," Phil's girlfriend Margaret joked.

"I have no clue," Robbie replied in a laid back tone, "We broke up."

The five other hockey players and Margaret, who were sitting at the table stopped eating at once. Margaret even gasped.

"What the hell man? What did you do?" Margaret immediately played the blame game.

Silky ignored her question and asked one of his own, "When did it happen?"

"We made it official yesterday but it's been bad for a while now..." Robbie didn't go too far into details.

Just then Buzz's wife Gail came to the table. She was there to pick up Margaret so the two could go shopping.

"Hey guys," she greeted the hockey players.

"Hey Gail, guess what. Mac totally fucked things up with Annie, they broke up," Margaret announced.

"Wow," Gail was surprised because the couple always seemed so happy, "Sorry to hear that Mac."

Margaret got up, kissed Phil's cheek, and left to go shopping with Gail. Robbie was a little relieved. If he said anything about what happened in front of Margaret then she would've told Annie and it would've caused a lot of unnecessary drama.

"So now that the scary kid is gone, tell us what really happened," Silk said.

"Well," Mac began and he couldn't help but chuckle at Silk's comment, "I don't even know what happened. I mean one minute everything was fine and the next Annie was just flipping about everything."

"Really?"Mark asked. He never pictured Annie to be the obnoxious girlfriend-type.

"Yeah," Mac nodded, "She does that all the time. I mean one minute she wants to do one thing and the next she doesn't want to anymore. Like for instance when we wanted to tell OC about us going out, she was the one that kept backing out, not me. Like every other day she was always like lets tell him and then like five minutes later she'd say 'we can't tell him!'. It got to be a pain."

"So did she dump you or did you dump her?" Pav inquired.

"It was mutual I guess. I mean she didn't get into med school at Buffalo and then out of the blue decided not to be a doctor anymore. I don't think she wanted to move to Buffalo and I didn't want to be with her in a long distance relationship," Robbie explained.

"It's funny. She seemed so pumped about moving to Buffalo with you," Buzz said, "Did she really change her mind just like that?"

"Yeah," Mac insisted, "It's a real pain in the ass. I mean I even proposed to her because I thought we were taking the next step and everything and she can't marry me or move to Buffalo because...get this, she told me she needs to find out who she is."

"Ooooh!" the whole group exclaimed.

"Sorry to hear that man," Silk said, "Conway's one of my good friends but... I know what you mean. She can be like bi-polar all the time!"

"Yeah I've seen that too," Bah agreed, "I've only known her a few months but she does that a lot. Like one time when a bunch of us went to the movies and we did a vote on what movie we should see and she kept changing her mind every time someone made a vote. We made her pick one and she got pissed at us."

"Whatever, Buffalo has a ton of single girls and I wasn't the one who was head to toe in issues all the time," Mac sighed, "Anyways, we all better go or we'll be late for practice."

"That's gonna be awkward seeing Conway after this talk," Mark said to no on in particular.

"No it won't. We won't even see her today. Doc gave her the morning off. Maybe it will give her sometime to take care of all her issues," Mac joked.

The guys all got up and put their equal share in for the bill then left for their morning practice.

---

Annie arrived back to the hotel, thankfully avoiding all the guys on the team. They probably all just found out or didn't know yet and it would've been awkward to see them. She wanted to give them a day before seeing them.

Conway walked into the hotel room she shared with Rachel, and saw that her friend was still asleep. She opened the blinds and laughed when she heard her friend groaning. The sun light must've woken her up.

"Conway, fuck you! It's too early to be like...awake," the blonde buried her head into her pillow.

"Rach, it's almost eleven!" Annie exclaimed.

"I...don't...care..." Rachel let out a big yawn and sat her self up in bed, "Why were up so early?"

"I went to the drug store with OC. And guess what I'm gonna do?" Annie asked excitedly.

"What?" Rachel asked in a sarcastic tone.

Annie gave her a look and flipped her off, "I'm gonna quit smoking."

Rachel chuckled, "Ha, good luck with that! Don't do it. It's really hard and I've heard you'll gain like ten pounds."

"Rach," the red head laughed, "You're supposed to be a doctor..."

"That's funny, you're supposed to be one too," Rachel gave her a look. She knew that she was quitting Med school and was mad at her.

"Ok, Rach! Can you just stop? I just...I just want to figure out for myself what I want to do with my life. Is that too much to ask of everyone? You know in the interview they asked me why I wanted to be a doctor and I said because of my grandfather! I had no reason of my own! It sucks because I've wasted my life for like four years in college being pre-med and now I have no clue what I wanna do. I just want to scream and you...."

Rachel cut her friend off of her tirade, "Jeez, I'm sorry Conway. Just chill okay? I'm real sorry..."

Annie rolled her eyes, "Whatever....Robbie and I officially ended it yesterday."

"Really? I'm sorry to hear that babe. You told me earlier you guys were in trouble..." Rachel said.

"We were. I think we have been for a while. Like he doesn't even realize that I have no idea what I want to do. He's just so....."

"Annie," Rachel interrupted her again, "Calm down. You've got to relax. You over analyze way too much! You're over analyzing the doctor thing and you're relationship with Robbie. Honestly, you've told me a lot about it. And I really think he loved you and you loved him too. You've gotta stop over analyzing and getting mad at him and shit. You're twenty three, the only thing you're supposed to be is you, man...."

Annie began to crack up, Rachel laughed with her a moment later. At least that was easing the tension between them in the room right now.

"That was so corny...." Annie giggled.

"God...what was I smoking last night," Rachel joked, and then she tried to control her laughter, "So we should chill tonight because the guys have a curfew and you don't!"

"Yeah!" Annie said excitedly, "Let's go out to lunch now. Get showered and dressed."

Rachel and Annie left the room an hour later. It got Annie's mind of everything with Med school and Robbie when she hung out with Rachel. Getting off the elevator and going to the lobby they saw that the guys were already back from practice. Annie and Rachel only saw Phil and Robbie standing in the lobby, and they were flirting with some other girls. They didn't notice Rachel and Annie standing about twenty feet away from them.

"Looks like he moved on fast..." Annie shrugged.

Rachel grabbed her friends arm and they left to go out another entrance to avoid the lobby all together.

"Thanks," Annie nodded as they walked out, "Tonight I'm so hooking up with a random guy."

---

"So do you think Doc will let you play tomorrow?" Rizzo asked OC as they watched tv in their hotel room.

"Hopefully, I think you boys need me," OC laughed.

"We're playing Russia. We need anybody we could get," Rizzo joked.

**Knock, Knock, Knock**

"It must be our turn in the tournament," Rizzo got up to answer the door expecting it to be one of his teammates. He was surprised to see a very happy Annie and OC's girlfriend Rachel outside their door.

OC looked over and saw them, "Hey come on in!"

Rachel and Annie entered the room. Annie had a huge goofy smile on her face. Rizzo kept the door open because he knew one of the guys were gonna come in any minute. The team decided to have a Pong tournament tonight because Herb enforced a curfew because of the curfew. He never did that before.

"Ok, you'll never guess what just happened!" Annie exclaimed.

"What?" Rizzo asked.

"Guess who has two thumbs and is going on a date with Eric Heiden tonight! THIS GIRL," she gave a thumb's up and pointed to herself.

"Really?" OC was surprised.

"Yeah," Rachel nodded too, she was excited as well, "We were all in the same coffee shop and Annie saw him and asked for an autograph and he was like...'Can I have your number?'. It was so romantic!"

"Wow. Sounds like he rocked your world, Conway," OC shrugged. It was already gonna be weird enough in the locker room tomorrow...

"Yeah," Annie nodded and ignored OC's blatant sarcasm, "I'm so excited. I can't believe it. I'M GOING ON A DATE WITH ERIC HEIDEN!"

"Rizzo, OC, it's you two are up..."

The four people in the room turned around and saw Robbie stand in the door frame. The door was open and by his stance, it seemed like he was standing there for a minute or two.

Robbie and Annie looked at each blankly other for a moment then both looked different directions. Rachel immediately looked away acknowledging the awkwardness of the situation. OC swore to himself and Rizzo got up and walked over to Robbie to go, trying to get Robbie to leave.

"Nice, let's go!" Rizzo grabbed Robbie's arm, practically dragging him out of there.

"Good job, Conway," OC rolled his eyes.

"It's not my fault! I didn't know he was there! He was just standing there and..." she spoke really quickly.

"Conway, you know what I said! Chill out!" Rachel laughed at her friend's freak out a bit, "She spoke somewhat quickly when she was with Eric Heiden."

"Conway, bring your inhaler you might have an asthma attack," OC joked.

"Annie has asthma?" Rachel asked.

"No!" Annie exclaimed, "When I get extremely nervous or excited I sometimes lose breath and need an inhaler. And don't go announcing that to everyone, OC!"

"I'm not!" OC tried, "You're mom gave me an emergency inhaler for you like just in case, right before you left for Minnesota. If you can't find yours I have the emergency one in my bag."

Rachel and Annie both laughed hysterically.

"Are you serious? My mom gave you the emergency inhaler?"

"Yeah. She trusts me more than she trusts you!"

"Whatever," Rachel laughed, "Have fun with whatever Mac came in for..."

"Pong tournament," OC explained, "You can come in and watch if you want."

"Maybe later," Rachel told him, "I was gonna have girl's night with Annie but since she's on her big date tonight, I'll help her get ready and stuff."

"Yeah. She's gonna doll me up good," Annie giggled.

---

"Dude, I'm starving."

"Then get some food, man."

A couple hours into the Pong tournament some of the guys started to get really hungry, and weren't being quiet about it.

"I'll go get some food," Mac offered. He was already out of the contest anyways and was planning on leaving pretty soon.

"I'll go too," Mark and Rizzo said in unison.

The three hockey players headed out of the crowded hotel room. They opened the door and saw Annie walking right past the door. She looked really beautiful, straightening her hair and giving it the Farrah flip. The dolled up Annie saw the hockey players at the corner of her eye.

"Hi," she stopped walking, but she looked directly at Rizzo and had a big smile on her face.

"Hey," Mark and Rizzo greeted her, Mac didn't say anything.

"Hows the Pong tournament going?"

"It's alright," Rizzo replied.

It was really awkward having Mac there. Annie took a deep breath and then dug into her purse. She grabbed the flask and took a sip. She wanted to confident and a little lose for her date tonight, and that was the only way she figured she could be.

"You guys want some?" she held it out to all three of them.

"Nah..." they replied.

"Alright," she nodded then gave a small smile, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

**---**

A few hours after running into Annie, on what seemed to be her date with Eric Heiden, Mac was back in his room watching tv. He was pretty bored with the Pong tournament after he lost and wanted to rest before the big game the next day. Flipping through the channels he thought of Annie. They broke up and he shouldn't of cared whether or not she was going on a date with another guy but he kept thinking of her.

**Ring, Ring, Ring**

Mac answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Robbie...hey!"

"Annie?"Robbie wondered why would she be calling.

"Yeah. I need your help, I don't know where I am!" Annie laughed but sounded a bit nervous.

"Are you drunk..."

"No!!" Annie cracked up on the other end of the phone.

Robbie shook his head, "Wow. Ok, well do you know what the bar your in looks like?"

"I'm at Hannigan's Bar."

"Annie, you just said you didn't know where you were!" Robbie was frustrated. She was so obnoxious when she was drunk.

"Oh... I meant I don't know how to get home."

"Annie..." Robbie was immediately cut off by his ex-girlfriend.

"Robbie, please pick me up! I'm really really scared," she sounded upset now.

"Why?" Robbie asked.

"Just come pleaseeeee!"

Robbie sighed, "All right. Just stay right there, I'll pick you up."

"Thanks Ro..." Robbie hung up the phone before she could finish her sentence.

He was on curfew and would have to sneak out to get to her. It wasn't that hard because Herb wasn't there and Craig was a deep sleeper, but just the whole situation pissed him off. They broke up and she went on a date the next day, now she's having a bad time and he had to bail her out. This was just perfect...

---

The bar that Annie was at was only about a ten minute walk from the hotel. Robbie walked quickly and kept his eyes peeled to make sure that Herb wasn't walking around outside. Luckily, he didn't see Herb and got to the bar alright.

Robbie looked around the bar and it took a minute to finally find Annie. She sat right at the bar, and had some shot glasses in front of her. Robbie just wanted to get out of there quickly and walked right up to her.

"Annie, time to go..." he said coolly.

"Robbie! I knew you'd come! I knew it!" she sounded like a four year old.

"Yeah, it's wonderful. Come on, let's get out of her Conway."

"Robbie....I'm drunk!" she giggled.

"I know," Robbie spoke to her as if she was a child, she was certainly acting like one, "Where's Heiden?"

"His coach caught him in here. Apparently he has a curfew just like you," she touched his nose with her finger.

"Sorry to hear that..." he said sarcastically, "Come on let's...."

"Robbie!" she interrupted him, "I've been thinking a lot about us. I think we should talk about it! Or if not at least have a drink with me."

"Annie I really don't...."

"Robbie," she stopped him again, "If I meant anything to you you'd have a drink with me. I'm not leaving here until you have a shot with me!"

She wouldn't move from her stool. Robbie rolled his eyes, took his coat off, and sat down, it was only going to be one drink. She would've made an even bigger fuss than already if he tried to force her to leave any further.

The bartender came with a shot glass for Annie and Robbie.

"To us," Annie joked as she lifted her drink to a toast, "Sorry to soon."

"Nah," Robbie chuckled and lifted his glass too, "To us."

_5 shots later..._

"That was good!" Mac laughed and burped.

"Yeah," Annie nodded excitedly in agreement, "Hey do you think I over analyze everything? Cuz Rachel said that...."

"Yeah," Robbie told her, "You really do. You just got to stay chill...and like be chill. Cuz chill means your happy...yeah."

"I guess you're right," Annie looked down at her empty shot glass and addressed the bar tender, "Can we have another round?"

"I don't like the way things ended between us," Robbie spoke honestly to her for the first time, "I mean like I really loved you and you just decided you didn't love me anymore. You just like over analyzed and changed your silly little mind like always..."

"Hey!" she began to defend herself, "I don't always do that! God, why does everyone keep saying that about me? Jesus Christ, I just want to be fuckin happy is that too much to ask? Like I don't wanna wake up in a bed like...thirty years from now and like not be happy...."

"You're making yourself unhappy right now and I'm sad too now...too," Robbie told her sadly.

"I'm sorry!" Annie patted his shoulder, "I don't know why I can be such a bitch sometimes..."

"WELL, your excuse was that you wanted to find yourself," Robbie was annoyed and then went on, "If you didn't want to be with me you could've said something.....Red!"

He blanked out on her name mid sentence and knew she hated being called Red.

"HEY! Let's call a truce!! Let's make up," Annie used her hands to show her excitement by waving them around.

"Ok!" Robbie sounded excited too. He then leaned forward in his stool and started kissing her. They kissed for a solid two seconds before Annie stopped him.

"ROBBIE! What are you doing silly?" she laughed, "We're OVER! We broke up!"

"I'm sorry," he gave a really sad face, "I thought you said make _out_, not make _up._"

"Oh!" Annie laughed, "Well they're both prepositions. Up and out...same thing. Easily to be confusable..."

"Exactly!" Robbie laughed with Annie, "Same thing!"

"I love you're eyes," Annie looked deep into his eyes, "They're so brown..."

"Me?!What about you? You were always my brown eyed girl! And you're hair it's so red..." he then whispered softly, "It's _majestic_!"

---

**February 22, 1980**

"Man, I love these breakfast buffets they have here," Phil told Rizzo, Silk, and Mark as the four walked down the hall to the elevator to go to breakfast.

"Me too," Silk agreed, "You can get as much as you want for one flat rate."

"Whoever came up with the idea should win a medal," Rizzo added.

"I think the guy won the Nobel Peace Prize," Mark joked.

It was still pretty early in the morning and the four of them were the only ones on the team that were probably up yet. They continued down the hallway to the elevator when they heard yelling from Annie's room. Rizzo knew Rachel wasn't with her because she slept in OC's bed last night.

"OH MY GOD!" the four hockey players heard the red head yell.

They all stopped right in before they reached the door of Annie's room. Before they could even say anything they saw the door open and an arm pushing Mac out the door. All he was wearing was boxers and then his clothes were thrown on him about a second later. The door slammed shut.

Mac shook his head and turned to see a few of his teammates looking down on him with shocked faces.

"What the hell man?" Silky uttered, "Did you two sleep together?"

Mac got up and held onto his clothes. He was hungover from the night before, "I guess so. We were both pretty smashed."

"Holy shit!" Verchota almost laughed.

Mac didn't want to talk to them about it anymore. He wanted to at least be dressed and have less of a headache than he had now. Mac pushed past them and walked toward the direction of his room, not giving any eye contact. He heard someone following him from behind. It was Mark. The two guys arrived back to their hotel room at the other end of the hall.

Mac immediately lied down on his own bed and buried his head into his pillow. He just wanted to sleep all day, but he knew that he couldn't. They had a short practice early in the afternoon and the big game was at five. He heard Mark go into the bathroom and run the sink. His roommate came out a moment later.

"Get up and take these," Mark instructed him.

Mac groaned before he rolled over and grabbed two pills from Mark's hand. He then took the glass of water from the other.

"You'll be fine in an hour or so," his roommate told him.

Mark turned to walk away but a thought just came to mind. He laughed a bit.

"You know it's funny. The last time you were smashed and I helped you was when you and Jamie broke up. And now I'm doing this seven months later when you've basically just had a one night stand with another one of your exs. Next time you have a break up don't get too hammered. I'm not gonna be your roommate forever, man."

**So that was it! It was pretty long right?!? Next chapter is the game I promise :)**

**Please Read and Review!!!**


	41. Till the Next Goodbye

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked the drunk bar scene. It was a lot of fun to write! I hope you like this chapter!**

**Meadow567: Thanks for the review! I hope you like this one too :)**

**Iheartobama: Thanks for reviewing. I'm happy you liked the bar scene. Hope you like this chapter too!**

**AN: Sorry it took so long to get this up. It's been so busy here lately. Anyways, here it is and it's very long. I hope you all like it. This isn't the last chapter even though it seems like it is. I have the epilogue left after this! Enjoy and please review!**

**Chapter 41**

"I swear to God that's what we saw!" Verchota exclaimed.

Some guys from the team, sans Robbie and OC, were all sitting together eating breakfast as Phil retold the tale of what they saw that morning. Robbie and Annie had slept together, after they had broken up and she was supposed to be on a date with another guy. Everything with them, like their break up and her new date happened so fast it was hard to absorb. It was exactly like when they all found out that they were together. It was getting to be quite a strain to keep adapting to their new relationship status and melodrama of the day. It was easier for OC and Rachel, because they'd fight all the time but at the end of the day the team knew that they'd get back together. Annie and Robbie were just different.

"And she yelled at him?" Buzz couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah," Silk told him, "She threw him out right on his ass."

"He was still pretty drunk when we saw him," Mark explained, he wasn't pleased with this situation at all because he'd be hearing the most about it for the next couple of hours, "I gave him some Tylenol and he's sleeping it off now."

"Jesus," Pav sighed, "It's gonna be a long day..."

This was the icing to an already tense day. They would be playing the Soviets in a couple of hours. The Russians were the best team in the world and team USA, they were a bunch of nobodies. They made it to the medal round but they had to step it up if they wanted to win the gold. And to make it worse now Mac and Annie drama was creeping up. No matter how hard the couple tried to keep their relationship private and away from the team, their fighting and intensity was surely felt by all.

Meanwhile, Annie was wide awake after finding her ex-boyfriend in her bed that morning. She was sick and threw up a few times. But after she was sure she was okay, she took a shower and got dressed. She didn't want to have breakfast with the team because they'd probably all ask her how her date with Eric Heiden went. Little did she know that they knew that she was with Mac. The brown eyed girl walked through the lobby and was about to walk past the restaurant when she heard some of her friends on the team who were eating there. She paused the moment she heard one of them say her name.

"It's going to be a long day..."

"Seriously how could Conway keep doing this? I don't even know why they broke up! She always has to make a show about everything and it's just fucking everything up."

"It's getting ridiculous..."

Annie gasped as she heard this. She couldn't believe it, they were supposed to be her friends. She looked around the lobby to make sure that no one on the team saw her listening in on the team's conversation, luckily no one was around and none of the guys knew she was there. Annie just turned right around and went back to her room.

---

**BEEP, BEEP, BEEP**

"Oh my GOD!" Rachel groaned as soon as she was woken up by the alarm.

The blonde then released from her boyfriends arms and shut off the clock. It was only eight thirty in the morning, why should she be up this early? She then turned over and nuzzled her head into his chest.

"Why the hell did you set that alarm for so early?"

"I didn't," OC replied with his eyes still closed and not moving an inch, "It must've been Rizzo."

Rachel turned over to give OC's roommate the stink eye but he wasn't in his bed. He must've already left. She then turned and rested her chin on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"You son of a bitch, he already left!"

"Then don't blame me," OC's eyes were still closed and he yawned, "Let's just go back to sleep. Practice isn't for a while."

"I can't go back to sleep now!" the blonde sprang out of bed, "I'm already awake!"

OC rubbed his eyes until he was finally able to open them, "That makes two of us."

Rachel walked to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. She came out a minute later with her hair up in a bun and wearing her bathrobe.

"Promise me that when we have our place in Chicago, I won't be up earlier than ten," she sat down at the foot of the bed as OC propped himself up.

"I can't make any guarantees, but I'll do my best," OC told her.

"Because if that happens then I might have to start crashing at my Aunt Pamela's," Rachel said off- handedly.

"Who's that?" OC asked.

"She's my favorite aunt and she lives in Chicago..." Rachel explained.

"Ohhh," the hockey player laughed, "Now I get why you wanted to go to Northwestern."

"Yeah," she giggled, "Finally the truth comes out."

The two sat in silence for a moment, then Rachel had a thought.

"Are you gonna skate in practice today?" Rachel was still concern about his leg.

"I don't think so. Doc told me he'd check my leg later this afternoon, before the game," he told her, "I'm just gonna watch. I'll be out by twelve thirty."

"Do you think your leg is alright enough to play?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "Rach, I think my leg is fine. You don't need to be worried anymore."

"Well now I'm not so much a worrier as I am your nurse," she said suggestively, "And to think I was gonna help you shower today. Now, since your leg is fine, I'm not so sure."

Rachel got up and walked toward the bathroom, until she heard her boyfriend call for her.

"Rach! My leg's in pain!" he jokingly grabbed onto his leg.

"Thought so," she laughed as she walked back towards him.

She sat down beside him on the bed and she kissed his leg. He smiled.

"Feel any better?" she joked.

"Not quite," he then pulled her into him and they started making out.

---

After breakfast, Mark went back to his room to check up on Mac. They had practice today and, although he's never done it, Mark knew it was bad to go to practice hung over, especially this one. This was their final morning skate before the big game. Hell this was the biggest game of their lives, and Mac better not give less than one hundred percent.

Walking into the room, he saw Mac laid on his stomach with a pillow over his face. He was passed out and all the blinds were shut. Mark rolled his eyes and walked over to the blinds.

"Rise and shine!" he opened the blinds.

The sunlight hit inside the room and it wasn't more than a few seconds before Mac woke up.

"Fuck off, Magic," he groaned as he rolled over to not face he window.

"Get up, we have practice in half an hour," Mark said firmly. He was really mad. Mac better not be messed up for the game tonight.

"Five more min...."

Before Mac could even finish his sentence, Mark pulled his sheets off of him.

"Get up, man," he told him again.

"Alright, alright," Robbie yawned and he rolled over onto his back, "I'm a lot better now. My hangover is gone. Thanks for the Tylenol, man."

Mark wasn't really listening to him. He was actually in the bathroom brushing his teeth. When Mark went back to where the beds were, he still looked pretty mad. Mac had never seen his friend that upset before.

"Jeez, Magic, chill out! What the hell?"

"We're all sick of this. You guys just can't keep doing this," Mark told him, "Never mind, you have no idea what I'm talking about anyways."

"No, I don't. But since you don't want to explain it to me than quit being an asshole," Mac got defensive.

"Oh I'm the asshole now? You and Conway keep fucking up everything. Why the fuck did you sneak out after curfew and go to her? I knew you didn't come back to the room, but I assumed you were with some of the other guys or you went back to the Pong tournament. You two are over. You both ended it so you need to get over it. Move on. Your whole thing with her was all angst and secrecy and shit and the second OC found out about it the thrill of it was done and you both got bored. Be a man and get over it," Mark spoke for himself and the team. He was always the quiet kid and Mac had never seen his friend like that ever. Mark even shocked himself for finally letting that out.

"Sorry," Mark then grabbed his hockey bag and left the room.

Mac sat on his bed in awe for a minute. Mark was right and if Mark was that mad then the rest of the team must've been pissed. Mark could put up with a lot, but to him Mac sleeping with Conway last night was just over the line. He should have known better than to make the locker room more tense, today of all days, than it actually was.

Mac quickly got dressed, grabbed his bag, and ran out the door. He was hoping to apologize to Mark before practice. It must've made him really mad to say those things and also to sober him up. Not only was Mark his roommate, but they were on the same line up. Mac knew that Mark was more professional and wouldn't put little squabbles in front of the team, but he just wanted there to be no animosity between them. They were a good line up together.

The hockey player caught up with his roommate about a block before the arena.

"Magic!" Mac finally reached him, "I'm sorry about last night and all the shit with Annie. It really wasn't supposed to happen. We didn't plan on sleeping together, I swear."

"Did you run all the way here?" Mark laughed, "Dude, it's fine. Just make amends with Conway. No one wants locker room tension between you guys tonight."

"I think I will talk to her. I love her but man sometimes..." Mac sighed, "Sometimes we just really sucked together."

"You two were never on the same page. And she knew that, which is why you guys got in fights and broke up," Mark told her. He was there for it all so he knew everything.

"I'll talk to her, man. I don't want to but I will for the team. After everything we've put you guys through these past few months...well I owe you guys that."

---

At one o'clock Jack walked down the hallway to Rachel and Annie's room to pick up his girlfriend for lunch. Rachel gave him one of the keys to the room and he let himself in. Opening the door he heard someone crying and he walked further into the room to find Annie crying on her bed.

"OC, Rachel already left. Just go away!" she sniffled.

"Are you ok?" he asked with concern.

"I'm fine!" she defended, "Just leave me alone!"

OC didn't leave his best friend. He walked over and sat at the foot of her bed.

"What the hell?" she was pissed, "Can't you take a hint? Just get out of here!"

"Not until you tell me what's up, Conway," OC told her, not moving an inch from where he sat.

"You wouldn't care. It's a girl thing and about Robbie, so you really don't wanna hear about it," she told him as she took one of her pillows and hugged it, sitting upright at the headboard.

"Well normally, Conway, I wouldn't. But you're crying and you're my best friend. Did he do anything? You aren't like pregnant are..."

Annie quickly stopped him, "No I'm not pregnant!"

OC let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm just...I'm just wallowing," she told him.

"Wallowing? What the hell is that?" OC asked.

"This is the first time since Robbie and I have broken up that I've actually cried about it. Everything just happened so fast and I was just going through all the motions and now that I finally have some time to think about it all I'm really sad because I really loved him and messed up and...," she began to sob, which was building up since the beginning of the explanation.

She then crawled over to him and cried on his shoulder. OC was really surprised by this and awkwardly patted her back to show his support. After a couple of seconds she got up from his shoulder and sat on her knees.

"Do you want to get back together with him or something?" OC asked as he pushed some hair out of her face behind her ear.

"No," she shook her head, "I really don't. I'll be ok, seriously. Can I just use this time to be alone?"

"Sure," he nodded and patted her knee as he stood up, without crutches.

"Where are your crutches?" Annie asked as she wiped a tear from her eye, having not noticed when he first walked in.

"I'm pretty sure I'm playing today. My leg feels fine," he told her.

"Are you sure? Because Doc..."

"Conway, I'm fine," he assured her.

OC turned around and began to walk away when Annie called out to him.

"Hey loser, thanks," she chuckled softly.

"For what?" the hockey player smirked.

"For being my best friend," the red head replied.

---

It was four o'clock. In an hour from now the game would begin. Robbie still hadn't had the chance to talk to Annie about what happened last night, like he planned to. He tried talking to her at the hotel but she wasn't in her room. Right now Mac wasn't focusing on his ex-girlfriend, instead he was walking to the arena and tried to think of the game ahead. He couldn't believe it was actually happening today. After their first encounter only two weeks ago he knew that they would meet again. And this time he felt the team was ready.

Mac was only five minutes away from the arena when he saw Annie sitting on a bench smoking a cigarette. When he saw her he took a deep breath and walked right up to her.

'I might as well get this over with now,' Mac sighed to himself.

When he got to the bench where Annie was he sat down beside her. Annie saw him from the corner of her eye when he was walking over, but didn't say anything and tried to play it cool.

"And here I thought you quit smoking," Robbie tried to break the ice by opening with a joke.

"Smoking sometimes cures my hangover," she explained, still not looking directly at him and instead taking another drag of her cigarette.

"Annie, look at me," he hated it when she pouted like this. He couldn't believe that she was mad at him. She was the one who called him in the first place!

"I have nothing to say to you!" she then got up and began to walk away.

"Yeah go leave when it gets tough. That's what your good at Annie!" he yelled at her aw she walked away.

Annie huffed when she heard this. She threw her cigarette down on the ground and walked back to him angrily. The real reason she didn't want to talk to him because she knew everything that happened with them last night and the reason they broke up was her fault. She just didn't want to face it.

"Hey Robbie," she shouted to him.

The hockey player, who was still sitting on the bench, turned to see what Annie had to say. Right at that moment he was hit square in the face with a snowball.

"Don't say that shit to me!" she told him.

"Are you serious?" Mac got up and walked over to her, "I have more of a right than anybody to say that to you!"

He then picked up some snow and rolled it up in a ball. He threw one right back at her and it hit her hard in the stomach.

"Why did you call me last night, Conway?"

"I was drunk out of my mind. I thought I could fly for fucks sake! You were the first person on my mind," she told him.

"Then don't blame me for last night! You're the one who called me and then you practically begged me to drink with you! I mean, c'mon Annie! Why do you have to make things so difficult all the time?"

"I make things difficult?!" she laughed, she couldn't believe he actually said that. She threw yet another snowball at him, "You're the one who wanted to move so quickly. You told me that you wanted to move in and stuff, even when I tried to end it! I knew it wasn't going to work and you didn't accept it and threw all these commitments on me! I'm not ready for that! I never was!"

"Then why did you commit? You could have left at any time and you didn't. You stayed and made this worse. Were you trying to do me a favor or something? You think me putting up with you and all your shit was a treat? It wasn't. I loved you but sometimes you would really annoy the shit out of me, and you not being ready for anything really made things bad," Mac retaliated and threw another snowball back at her.

"I didn't want to fuckin' hurt you! I loved and you cared about you, hell I still do. But I'm not ready for that kind of commitment. We haven't been the same since everyone found out!"

"You caused that Annie, not me! I thought it would get better, but it's only gotten worse. What? Was it because the novelty wore off and the secrecy was over? Were you only going out with me to try to get OC pissed or something?"

"FUCK YOU!" she threw a third snowball at him, "I just told you that I cared about you but I wasn't ready. And if you were so annoyed by me all the time then why didn't you end it, huh?"

"Because I cared about you and thought you'd be the same Annie I fell for in the first place! You were always a flip flopper, Conway. Like when we wanted to tell OC about us. You kept changing you're mind everyday, it was a living hell!"

By this point Annie had enough of this fighting. She couldn't believe they were making such a scene. She saw some people looking at them as they walked. They were having a snowball fight showdown in the middle of Lake Placid!

"You really felt that way about me? Fine," she sighed, "What do you want me to say? That I'm sorry for calling you last night? I'm sorry! Do you want me to say that I'm sorry that I was hesitant on telling OC about us? Well I'm sorry about that too! He is my best friend and I had no idea what to do. And I'm sorry that I made you're life a 'living hell', but you were my first boyfriend and I'm still pretty new at this! I didn't want to hurt you because I loved you and I honestly thought that one day I would wake up and we would just work, but that didn't happen. I'm sorry and I know that I wrecked us, I caused this and I know that now. I'm not hiding anything, thats the truth. I'm sorry ok? I'm sorry!"

Mac and Annie were a few feet apart when they were fighting. After the girl's speech, Robbie walked right up to her. This would be the first time they were face to face during this whole confrontation.

"You didn't make my life a living hell, Annie. And I'm sorry that we never talked about us moving so fast. We should have talked about it before jumping in. And I didn't give you many chances to talk to me about how you felt about all this. It's not all you're fault, it's mine too."

"I can't believe we made this scene," she smirked, "Everyone saw us!"

"I didn't really notice..."

"So what now?" Annie asked.

"We don't have much time left before the end of the Olympics. How about we just act like we did before we went out. We were actually friends."

"Ok," she nodded, "So this was a good talk."

"It couldn't have gone any better," he joked. It really couldn't of. They still had a lot of things they had to say to each other since the break up and they finally let it all out today. This was the first time since the break up that they both understood why they ended it. This was closure. Now he could focus on the game, the most important thing right now.

"Wanna walk to the arena together?"

"Yeah, I'd like that."

---

"OC, I think you can play," Annie was checking up on her best friend's leg in the locker room.

"Are you serious?" OC gave the biggest smile she'd ever seen. He really wanted to play. He hadn't played since the team played the Soviets last.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I'll get Doc for a second opinion."

Annie entered the changing area where Doc and the rest of the team was. It was very quiet and tense. No one was talking. They were thinking of the game and what it meant. Annie quietly got Doc's attention and he went to check on OC's leg.

Doc gave the ok and Herb told OC to suit up. He was thrilled. In the locker room before the guys went on the ice Herb gave a speech about how this moment was theirs. Annie thought it was pretty inspirational, especially from Herb who wasn't the one to give sentimental speeches.

As soon as the guys got on the ice the crowd started chanting "U-S-A" over and over again. It made the team feel a little at ease knowing that we were on home ice. Skating in a circle they looked scared but confident because they now knew what to do to beat them.

The first period started off pretty good. The team was keeping up with the speed of the Soviet, which was a result of all the Herbies they were forced to do in practice. Unfortunately the Soviets got the first goal. Many felt it was unfair because the US team lost the puck due to a slash on Buzzy. Buzz got back at them by scoring the first goal for the Americans, thanks largely to a hit OC gave to a Soviet player. The Russians punched back again and scored another goal. But no doubt the best moment of the first period was at the very end, when Magic scored the tying goal with one second left. The Soviets tried to fight it, but there was no doubt that it was a goal made during regulation.

At the beginning of the second period, Annie noticed a different goalie for the Soviets. She tapped Herb and nodded toward the goalie. He couldn't believe it either.

"Well, boys, you just put the best goaltender in the world on the bench," he told the guys on the bench. He was feeling confident now. The second period went underway and not long afterwards the Soviets scored again, making the score 3-2. The worst part was Jimmy hit his head on the ice. The whole crowd stood. He was vital to the team, he couldn't be hurt. Doc and Annie were about to go on the ice to check on him but he got up, with help from Mac and OC, and shook it off. The rest of the period was scoreless. Going out onto the ice for the third period, the team knew they had to give it there all. It was now or never. This was their shot. They've come from behind before and they had to do it again. They were ready. They wouldn't let them score again. It was intense. Jimmy saved every shot. The guys played and skated the hardest they've ever had. About three minutes into the period, the team had a power play due to a slash on Christian. With four seconds left in the power play, Magic scored again! The whole bench cleared to congratulate him. With the score tied up again, they were more confident than ever. A few minutes later Rizzo got on the ice and scored. The whole building was vibrating. The bench cleared. It was incredible. Herb yelling at him really paid off. He scored with ten minutes left. After that the guys did everything they could to keep their lead. Jimmy made the huge saves and the team did everything they could to get the puck out of their zone. Every few seconds, everyone would look up the clock to see how long they had left. "Get it out! Get it out!" Annie heard Mac yell on the ice. As the clock winded down the team got more and more excited. "Play your game boys!" Herb would yell reminders at them. Finally it came. The final minute. Everyone screaming and shouting. They guys were just trying the clear the puck. TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX "Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? YES!" The whole building were on their feet cheering. The guys immediately cleared the bench to celebrate. They couldn't believe it. They were hugging and screaming and honestly couldn't believe it. Doc, Craig, and Annie got on the ice to celebrate with the team. They hugged and screamed with them. Since they followed the team for so long it almost seemed like an accomplishment for them as well, not like the team's though. Herb didn't go on the ice, in fact he left the bench and went off by himself.

They actually did it. It was unbelievable, they defeated the Soviet Union.

---

After that night's celebrations the team got back to the hotel around four o'clock. It was going to be bitch to get up for their practice a few hours from now but they didn't care, most of them couldn't even sleep. They couldn't stop thinking about everything they had just accomplished.

Jack and Rachel had his room that he shared with Rizzo that night, so Rizzo went into Annie's room with her. They had been friends at BU and Annie felt really honored to hang out with the Captain and the guy who scored the game winning goal and he was one of her good friends!

Annie sat up against her headboard and put the tv on low, as Rizzo sat on Rachel's bed. He was the most shocked of anyone. It seemed like everyday Coach Brooks was always yelling at him and threatening to kick him off the team, even after he was appointed Captain. He too sat against his headboard and put his hands behind his head, grinning from ear to ear while doing it. He turned to look at Annie and just laughed, she did too. He was so relieved that they won, against Russia! They were going to win the gold medal for sure, which meant their fight for the unknown actually meant something.

"How many times in life could I actually say that every American man wants to be me right now?" he smiled.

"Wow, Rizzo. I'm flattered," Annie joked and winked, "But I think the real question is how many American women wish they were me right now? I'm in a hotel room with the man that very well just won the whole game for us."

"Conway, Conway, Conway, silly Conway. It was a team effort!"

Annie giggled and teased, "I guess so!"

"I'd scream again but I think my voice is out," he sighed.

"I'll get you some water, if you promise not to scream. I don't want people to think we're having hot sex in here," she kidded.

"Second night in a row, huh Conway?" Rizzo joked awkwardly.

Annie shook her head and gave a small smile, "I'll go get you some water."

She got up and went into the bathroom. Thirty seconds later she came out with a glass of water, walked over to Rachel's bed and handed it to him.

"Thanks," he tipped his glass to her before taking a drink.

The red head sat down on her own bed again and waited until Rizzo was done drinking the water to begin talking. She too was as wired and wide awake as most of the other guys and was in no rush to go to bed.

"So what do you think you're gonna do when this is all over?" Rizzo questioned right after finishing his drink, before Annie had a chance to speak.

"I'm going to go back to Boston for a few weeks. I really miss it. I haven't been there since I left for Minnesota in July. I miss it so much," she told him, "What about you? Any thoughts about the NHL? After tonight several teams would kill to sign you!"

Rizzo shook his head, "No I'm going to retire from hockey. This is the best I can ever do. Seriously nothing could top this."

Annie's jaw dropped. He was probably the only guy doing that. Most of the other guys were signing with teams in the NHL, AHL, and around the world.

"Wow," she breathed, "What are you going to do instead?"

"I don't know," he laughed, "Maybe be a commentator or something. What do you think you want to do with your life since you're medical aspirations are gone?"

"I have no clue," she said honestly, "I mean I'm only twenty three. Why do I need a life plan right at this moment? I thought I had everything figured out and then something inside of me just snapped. Being a doctor wasn't for me and thinking back now I can honestly say it never was."

"Annie, you're gonna figure it out. Don't worry, everything will eventually work out for you," Rizzo said.

"Thanks Riz," she smiled, "I haven't told anyone this yet but I'm going to Europe for a few months after this is all over."

"I thought you were afraid of planes, Conway," Rizzo chuckled.

"Well, I am," she said nervously, "But Maria from _The Sound of Music_ said that whenever you have a problem you have to face it and that's what I'm doing. That and I've never been to Europe before. Hell that trip with you guys to New York City was the first time I've ever been on an airplane. And I've thought about it for a while. I've even bought some books and started mapping things out."

"Are you gonna go alone?" he asked.

"Yeah," Annie told him, that was the way she wanted it, "I just want some time by myself for a while. This whole year I've been trying to change myself and figure out who I am, you know corny shit like that, and I've figured out that in order to find out who the real Annie Conway is I have to have some personal time for a while. And what better thing than a four month exploration of Europe?"

"Well just be careful Conway," Rizzo gave advice as if he were her older brother.

"Thanks Big Bro!" she said sarcastically.

"Whatever, just think about what I said. So you and Mac are definitely done now? For good? Despite last night..." Rizzo questioned.

"Yes," she nodded, "We talked today before the game and realized that we are just not right for each other. I don't want to move forward with him and he said I annoy the shit out of him about ninety-nine percent of the time. And he was right. We weren't working for a while and finally we had the balls to do something before we were trapped in this for good. It was mutual."

She didn't want to tell Rizzo that she'd really miss Mac and she was the one that screwed them up. She just didn't want to seem like that type of girl. Rizzo had known her for so long and if Annie told him that she'd miss him and she didn't know what she had until it was too late, she wouldn't know how he'd reply. She just didn't want to make it awkward.

"Wow," Rizzo laughed, "Despite your little 'makeover' you still have the mouth of a sailor."

"Shut up!" she laughed, "Lets go back to talking about you again! You have a lucky lady waiting for you at home?"

"Well I probably have several coming up in the near future," he joked.

"Oh the agony of being a sports celebrity!"

"Whatever," Rizzo sighed, "Honestly right now all I want to do is go home, just like you."

"Well there's no place like Boston."

"Yeah, there really isn't! Where else can you 'Pahk the cah in Hahvahd yahd?'"

---

Two days later the team went on to beat Finland, with a score of 4-2 and Mac scoring the winning goal. Annie watched the team as they accepted their medals. Rizzo standing on the small podium and his team standing behind him. When the National Anthem was over and the flag was raised Rizzo called his team over to stand with him. They all rushed over and managed to squeeze on to it. Annie would never forget that moment. The whole team was literally standing as one on the podium with their number one fingers in the air. She looked over at Herb, who was standing beside her, and he had never looked so happy or proud for all the months she had known him. This may as well been one of the greatest moments in his entire life.

Looking at the team, Annie thought of how far they had come. She remembered this time last year when OC would bitch about how University of Minnesota beat them in 1976 and what he'd do if he ever saw that panzey McClanahan again, and now they were standing next to each other on the podium.

Annie couldn't believe that she had a boyfriend, her first serious one at that. Despite their break up and all the reasons, Robbie would always be Annie's first love. He was really a great first boyfriend, putting up with all her crap. She finally realized this when it was too late. The break up was inevitable with their fighting and different goals, but Annie would still miss him and always hold a place in her heart for him.

It was unbelievable that this team would be breaking up in a matter of hours. Right after the team defeated Russia, President Carter invited them and the coaching staff for a morning at the White House. They planned on going tomorrow, so it wouldn't conflict with the final game. And then after that the team would separate. Some, like Robbie and OC, would go on to their NHL clubs and play professionally, and others, like Rizzo, were planning on going home having no clue what their next move would be.

The next morning the team was outside their hotel in the parking lot boarding their bus. Beforehand, they hugged their parents goodbye, even though most of them were going to see them again very soon. Annie was there, along with Rachel, Gail, and Margaret.

Annie hugged her best friend goodbye. She would be seeing him and Rachel in a few days because they planned on spending some time in Boston before he joined the Blackhawks in Chicago. She then hugged the rest of her friends on the team, knowing very well that she wouldn't be seeing them for a long time. Mac observed her as she hugged them. He knew that they were going to hug, and he wanted to. It was the last time they were going to see each other.

After hugging everyone else on the team Annie walked up to her ex-boyfriend.

"Hi stranger," she said softly with a small smile.

"Hey," he nodded.

She then hugged him lightly. Robbie smelled her hair and meet the familiar hug with a warmer embrace. He hugged her tightly. He was really going to miss her. Annie began to cry, this was really happening, they were really leaving each other.

"We're doing the right thing, right?" she looked up at him once they released from the hug.

"Yeah," he wiped a tear off her cheek, "I know you. If we keep doing this and you come to Buffalo with me...you're going to regret it. You need to see Europe..."

"How did you..." Annie only told Rizzo that she was going to backpack through Europe. Then she looked at him as he boarded the bus and rolled her eyes.

"You're going to love it. You need to go," Robbie told her, "And I need to go to Buffalo. We fought way too much for this to work."

"Well it was mostly me fighting," Annie chuckled, "You were amazing and I was a shitty girlfriend."

"No you weren't. We're both young anyways. Why should we settle down?" Robbie joked.

Annie laughed lightly. She then looked up at him and gave him a big kiss on the lips. After a couple seconds she stopped.

"You know when you get back to Minnesota to pack up the apartment with Bah and Magic...I'm going to be gone," she told him.

"Yeah," he sighed sadly, thinking of all the memories he shared with her and his friends in that apartment, "I know."

Annie then kissed him again, only this time it was only a quick peck on the lips.

"You were my first love, Robbie McClanahan," she whispered to him, "I'm gonna miss you."

Annie then walked away from him, trying not to cry.

"I'll see you around, Conway," he yelled over to her.

She couldn't help but smile. He told her that on countless times, ironically when he knew that he couldn't her again, like the night he helped her when she was sick (thanks to him) and all the times in the beginning of their relationship when they fought because of OC and stuff like that. As she kept walking back to the hotel entrance thoughts of Robbie subdued and Annie began to think of the Eiffel Tower, a place she had always wanted to go and now she was finally able to see.

**This is not the last chapter! I have one more in me haha. Please review!**


	42. 1985

**Meadow567: Thanks so much for reviewing over the years! I've loved them all. And this chapter will hopefully give some closure :)**

**IheartObama: Thanks for the review :)**

**Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the review! And thanks so much for helping me with this story for all this time. Without your support and help this story probably would have never even been written. Thanks so much for everything!**

**AN: Readers, here it is, the final chapter. I am so sorry it took so long to get up. I had the busiest semester at college. College student readers know exactly what I'm talking about. It gets hectic but it's probably the best year of my life. Anyways, I'd like to thank everyone so much for reading this story. I especially want to thank Vaughnloveralwaysandforev, Iheartobama, meadow567, and everyone else who read my story along the way. I write for the readers. You have no idea how much you guys affected this story and what your awesome reviews meant to me. I appreciate your guys support and thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys believed in this story when I felt like at times I didn't even believe in it. I was supposed to finish this in October of '07 and now it is July of '09 and I'm finally finishing it. You followed this story for that long, you all deserve a medal lol. But enough with my blabbering, here it is, the final chapter. ENJOY!**

**Epilogue**

_1985_

"Jack, can you believe it's been five years since Lake Placid?"

"No, Rach. It feels like just yesterday."

Rachel took a deep breath and smiled at her husband. It was five years since either of them had been to Minnesota, well except for Jack when he played games against the North Stars, but nonetheless they couldn't believe they were back. A few months before a bunch of the guys on the team began calling everybody and planning a five year reunion. It was set for the middle of July because thats when all the hockey seasons were over for people who were still playing. And it was in Minnesota for the obvious reason that they lived there during exhibition season. Luckily most of the guys were able to make it, only a few of them couldn't go to due to previous commitments.

Jack and Rachel finally arrived at the restaurant they all agreed to meet at and Jack parked the rental car.

"Ready to go?" Jack nodded.

Rachel clutched onto her stomach and gave her husband a look.

"Rach?" he asked in a concerned tone.

The blonde took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah. It was just Julia kicking."

"You mean Matthew?" he joked.

"Ha ha," she said sarcastically, "We'll wait and see in another five months."

"Well you look beautiful," Jack told his wife.

"Trying to suck up to the woman you knocked up?" Rachel joked, "Whatever, at least I'm not showing yet. And by the way, our convo back there...corniest things we've ever said."

Jack thought for a moment, "Wow...you're right."

"Yeah," she nodded sadly, "I'm a little embarrassed for us."

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, "Let's go in and see everybody."

The O'Callahans got out of the car and walked into the restaurant. By the time they got their most of the guys and their girlfriends/wives were there too. There were so many people that they all had a private room in the back.

"Hey it's Jack and Rachel!" they heard one of the guys announce as they entered the private room.

They walked around the huge table and greeted their friends. Some of them Jack had seen or played against over the years but it was still great to see everyone all in one place. Once they finally sat down they started talking amongst the people around them.

"Did anyone bring the book of Brooksisms?" Buzz asked.

"Yeah,"Rizzo nodded and held it up, "Right here!"

The whole table laughed, clapped, and cheered. Rizzo opened up the book and read some of the passages. He and a few of the other guys made it during their down time in Lake Placid.

"Throw the puck back and weave, weave, weave. But don't just weave for the sake of weaving," he read aloud.

"I still don't know what the hell that means!" Verchota joked.

"Is everyone ready to order?" nobody seemed to notice the young waitress enter the room until she spoke up.

"Is everyone even here yet?" Mac looked around.

"Conway's on her way. She'll be here soon," OC told the guys, but he was looking at Mac.

Nobody would ever forget that big drama between Mac, Conway and OC, especially OC. It was the first time his best friend wasn't honest with him. But it was such a long time ago and OC didn't really care once he got used to the idea of Mac and Conway going out. By the time he got used to it they broke up anyways. It didn't really make sense to OC but he stood by his best friend as much as he could. She never talked about the relationship after Lake Placid though.

"Yeah," Rachel nodded, "She should be here any minute now. Annie won't care if we order without her."

The waitress started going around the table taking orders and was joined by another waiter shortly after for help. With such a large group ordering took almost ten minutes. When the waiters finally finished taking orders they exited the room but bumped into somebody in a hurry on the way out.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" the group looked up and saw a familiar red head stumble into the room.

The waiters just walked away and Annie just stood there laughing at herself. She looked exactly the same as the last time they saw her. Tall, red headed and a big smile. She was still in her work uniform which, believe it or not, was a flight attendant outfit. Funny how a girl who was petrified of heights is now a flight attendant.

"Hey guys," she giggled, "I just rushed here because I thought I was late and missed it all! Guess not!"

All the guys shouted "Hey"s, "Hey Conway"s and "What's up?"s to Annie. None of them had seen her since the day they left to meet President Carter and when she was planning on a backpacking trip through Europe. Annie followed Jack and Rachel's pattern and started walking around the table to individually talk to all the guys there. She started with the O'Callahans because they were closest to her.

"Hey, your godson is still sick," she told Jack.

"Kevin's still not feeling well? How are Katherine and Charlie handling it?" OC asked. Charlie, Annie's younger brother, and Katherine, OC's little sister, eventually did get married when they were in Harvard together. Sometimes when Annie thinks about it she still can't believe the night she caught them making out in her grandfather's old house.

"They're trying to be better godparents than you guys," Annie laughed, "But his fever is almost broken so he'll be ok."

"You sure?" Rachel asked.

"I'm one hundred fifty percent sure. If I wasn't I would've flown home to Boston instead of dead- heading it here from San Francisco," Annie assured her friend.

Annie continued all around the table and ended up at the other side where she sat between Rizzo and Silky.

"How the hell did you become a flight attendant?" Verchota joked to the whole table.

"Remember that time when we all flew to New York City and you flipped out on the flight?" Silky cracked up, "It was awesome!"

"It was my first time flying!" Annie laughed and defended herself, "And I think that I'm a really great flight attendant, thank you very much!"

"Sure," Bah said in a low sarcastic voice.

Some of the guys started laughing and Annie mimicked their low laughs which made everyone laugh even more.

The group talked for hours. They didn't even leave the restaurant until they were kicked out when it was closing. They were all going to a baseball game the next afternoon, in fact they had the whole weekend planned.

"Does anyone know where the Holiday Inn is?" Annie asked some of the guys she was talking to as she left the restaurant, "I'm rooming with another flight attendant there for the night. And then I have to wing it for the rest of the weekend."

"I can take you," Robbie offered. They hadn't talked just the two of them the whole night, only with the whole group or with just a couple of guys.

"Thanks Robbie," she smiled.

"No problem, it's on my way home anyways."

The guys looked at them suspiciously knowing their history but Annie shrugged them off with a joke, "Don't worry we aren't going to jump each other's bones once we get into the car. That's so five years ago!"

Annie took Robbie's arm and led him through the parking lot. Surprisingly enough Mac still had the same car he did five years ago.

"You're still driving this piece of shit?" Annie laughed.

"One word for ya: Gloria," Robbie retorted. Gloria was the pet name for Annie's car that she bought with money she earned at the bar when she was a bartender. The car was a piece of crap that broke down daily.

"Shut up!" she laughed.

They entered the car and sat in silence for a moment. They really didn't know what to say. They both tried to act as casual and nonchalant as they could. The last couple of weeks they had together were very bumpy and they hadn't even seen each other in five years. They have both definitely changed.

"So..."

"Yeah..."

They both said it at the same time and then immediately fell silent again.

Annie giggled awkwardly, "It's not like we've never had a conversation before."

Robbie chuckled and nodded, "Yeah."

Robbie started up the car and they started talking again as soon as they got out of the parking lot.

"So how has life treated you over the past five years, Conway?" Mac made sure to say Conway and not Annie.

"It's been pretty good. I live in Boston right now and I've got a great job," the red head began.

"Yeah, jeez, a flight attendant. I remember trying to reassure you the night before your first flight that we weren't going to crash. You told me that you wanted to be a flight attendant when you were a kid," Robbie reminisced.

Annie laughed at that. She probably sounded so stupid, "Wow! Well at least my childhood dreams came true."

"Yeah," Robbie laughed with her, "So did I hear you say you have a kid now?"

"Kevin, yes," she grinned, "He's two. He's about to learn how to ice skate. I'm thinking this winter."

"Wow,"Robbie's eyes widened, "So you're married?"

Annie looked at his face. He looked a little disappointed. She shook her head, "No. His father left as soon as I found out. We weren't even that serious anyways."

"I'm sorry," he looked straight at the road. He was mad that the guy left her and her son, but kinda happy that she wasn't off the market either. Seeing her tonight brought back a lot of memories.

"So," Annie tried to lighten the mood, "Are you serious with anybody? I heard you retired. Are you here in Minnesota now?"

"Yeah I'm here now. I just missed home, ya know? And no I'm not seeing anybody right now," Robbie replied.

When he was in the NHL he had plenty of girlfriends, but none of them were very serious. The longest relationship he may have had was around six months. He didn't want anything too serious after Annie anyways. They went through a lot when they were both very young and he just wanted to have fun, which he had plenty of.

"How did you know I retired?" he asked curiously.

"I read it somewhere," she replied.

The two drove down some private roads, which Annie was very familiar with. She looked out the window for it, her grandfather's house. She hadn't even seen it since New Year's Eve 1979, the night OC found out about Annie and Robbie's relationship.

"Stop the car," Annie told Robbie when she spotted the old house.

Robbie parked the car in front of the house. He somewhat wished that he hadn't gone this way. He didn't even realize when he was driving. He didn't want to open up all these bad memories for Annie, but he was stunned by her looking at the house. She looked very calm.

"I had a lot of good memories in this house," she told him, "I'll admit some of them were bad too, but wow, some were really good, you know."

"I remember we had sex for the first time in this house," Robbie joked.

"Yeah, and I had my first pregnancy scare in this house too," she laughed about it now that she is actually a mom, but it scared the shit out of her back then.

"Oh man, that was probably the most nerve racking couple of days of my whole life. Promise to keep a secret?"

"I always do," she smiled at him.

"After you told me that you thought you were pregnant, I was driving back to my apartment and I had to pull over to throw up,"he told her.

"Don't even worry about that. I threw up like ten times that day. At first I thought was because I was pregnant but then it turns out it was because I was so nervous because I thought I was pregnant."

"That's a riddle wrapped in a conundrum."

"Yes it is," Annie agreed.

Annie moved from where she was leaning back against the car and started walking on the sidewalk next to the house. It was then that she noticed the "For Sale" sign on the front lawn.

"Wow, check that out," Annie pointed to the sign.

"Woah," he saw the sign.

"Guess this house was too much for them to handle," Annie joked.

"Wanna head out?"

"Yeah," Annie said. She gave the house one last look up and down and then got back into Mac's car.

The rest of the ride to the hotel was just talking about little things, like Annie's son Kevin and Mac's job, stuff like that. When they reached the hotel they sat in the car for a moment.

"Well thanks for the ride down memory lane," Annie chuckled.

"Same here. It's been nice talking to you. I didn't like completely forget about you, ya know," Robbie told her.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I followed you when you played hockey. I followed you in the newspaper and stuff. I never thought of you as like a mistake. I don't regret anything that happened between us."

"Me neither," he agreed.

Annie took a deep breath, "Well that was sufficiently awkward. Are you going to the game tomorrow?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you around, Conway," Mac uttered words that were too familiar to Annie.

She shuddered when she heard that. He said it when they broke up and a bunch of really tense times of their relationship. Maybe he forgot that. She hoped that he forgot that.

---

The following day everyone met up at the baseball park to watch a Minnesota Twins game. It was a game against the Yankees so it was everyone except for Rachel rooting for the Twins. Annie was getting her rental car and finding a hotel room for the next few days.

"I am de-ter-mined to catch a ball today," Rachel joked to Jimmy and Pav.

"De-ter-mined?" Jimmy laughed.

"You know it!" the blonde laughed

Annie finally joined the guys around the fourth inning. She was a little later than expected but she had a lot to do that morning.

Annie took a seat between Silky and OC. She looked a little tired and didn't look at any of the guys. She just focused on the game for the first few minutes. Finally, at the end of the inning, Annie leaned over to whisper something to OC.

"We need to talk...alone."

"Ok," OC said softly as he gave her a 'what did you do?' look.

The two of them left quickly and managed to not get many of the guys to notice the small little scene. They went to the food area to get some beer.

"Conway, what's up? What's up your ass?" OC asked his best friend.

"I bought a house!" she blurted out. She then covered her mouth with both hands as if she couldn't believe what she just said.

"What? How? When? Where in Boston is there a decent house on the market?" OC was stunned.

Annie lived in a cheap apartment in Dorchester, a part of Boston. She had talked of buying a house ever since Kevin was born but didn't have enough money to buy in a decent neighborhood.

"I didn't buy a house in Boston," Annie said slowly, "I bought one here...in Minnesota."

OC's jaw dropped. She was so homesick last time she was in Minnesota, what made her change. And this was so sudden. She was always a Boston girl at heart, he never thought she would want to leave.

"Why? Tell me everything," her best friend insisted.

"Well yesterday I was driving around with Robbie and..."

"You're back with that pansie again?!"

"No! Of course not! I'd never move for a guy. And you liked him by the end anyways. But no, we drove past the old house and it had a for sale sign. Then I stayed up like all night thinking about it and today I talked to the owners and their real estate agent and I bought the house," she explained.

"Why? What sparked this move?" OC asked.

Just then Rachel came up to the two friends.

"Hey guys, whats up?"

"Conway's moving to Minnesota," Jack explained to his wife.

"WHAT!?" Rachel was just as shocked as Jack, maybe even more, "Why!?"

"Ok, listen to me!" Annie shrugged, "I wanted to move to Minnesota so I can give Kevin the life I never had. I mean when I was a kid in Southie it was really a shitty neighborhood. And OC, Charlestown, come on, you practically got jumped just for stepping out of your house. And Dorchester isn't any better. So the way I see it is that St. Paul is a great and safe neighborhood, it has great schools, and I'm a flight attendant so I can easily move without a problem. Besides, think about it, you two are in Chicago. We'll be so much closer to you guys!"

OC and Rachel stood silent for a moment. She did have a point. OC especially agreed with the safety part. In a way, he was happy that he was going to raise his son or daughter out of Boston so they wouldn't have to go through the same shit he did when he grew up in Charlestown.

"Sorry, Annie," Rachel spoked first, "We're not mad. We're just shocked. This came out of nowhere. Where are you moving? You bought a house already?"

"Yeah," Annie nodded, "My grandfather's old house. Crazy right?"

"Wow! That's awesome, Annie," Rachel smiled. She knew how much Annie loved that house and how sad she was to let go of it half a decade ago.

Rachel hugged her friend, she did that a lot since she found out about her pregnancy and blamed her niceness on hormones. She never hugged that much before.

"I need to go to the bathroom now," Rachel smiled and walked away.

Annie looked a little dazed by the hug.

"Hormones," OC explained.

He then put his hand on her shoulder and led the two of them back to their seats. As the game progressed word slowly got out about Annie's move, and by the end of the game everyone knew about it.

"Congrats," Magic said.

"That's awesome, Conway," Buzzy agreed.

All the guy congratulated her on getting her first house. It was weird to believe that this was happening. They sure weren't kids anymore. Annie didn't want to wait to tell her son the news and called him from a pay phone in the park after the game and after many of the congratulations. He was only a toddler but he sounded excited. After the call she hung up and left the phone booth. Walking out to her car she saw Robbie leaving too. He just left the long line for the bathroom. Robbie spotted her leaving.

"Hey Conway, great game huh?"

"Yeah," Annie nodded, "Too bad the Yankees won though."

"I tried not to remember that," he joked.

Annie laughed with him. The two continued walking towards their respected vehicles.

"So congrats on the house. That's a big step. You ready for it?"

"Yeah," she said confidently, "I was so homesick the last time I was here because I wasn't really ready to go. I felt like I was forced to come here. But now, I feel like this is the place for me. I'm older now and I can handle not being in Boston anymore."

"Good for you," Robbie smiled. They never talked about it, but Robbie always thought that part of the reason she didn't go to Buffalo with him was because she was really homesick. She missed Boston an awful lot when she was in Minnesota.

"Yeah. I'm excited for the move and so is Kevin," Annie told him.

"That's awesome," Mac said, "Listen, Annie, after you move here and get settled in and stuff...if you ever wanted to get like a cup of coffee or a beer or something with a familiar face...you can call me up."

Mac called Conway Annie. He didn't really know what he meant by that, but it was great to say her name like that again.

"You know what, Robbie, I'd really like that," Annie smiled up at him.

**Well that's the end of that. Again I am so so so so so sorry that you had to wait all this time for this final chapter. Anyone in college would know how busy everything gets. Anyways, thanks so much for anybody who read this story. I may or may not have a new story coming out. It depends how my schedule is. If I do have a new Miracle story coming out I already plan on calling it "Dream On". I hope you enjoyed this final chapter and thanks for reading all this time.**


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